forgive

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fragebaną“to give away; give up; release; forgive”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*frageban
3. Old English · inherited fromforġiefan“to forgive, to give”
4. Middle English · inherited fromforyiven
5. English todayforgive

Alteration (due to give) of Middle English foryiven, forȝiven, from Old English forġiefan (“to forgive, to give”), from Proto-West Germanic *frageban, from Proto-Germanic *fragebaną (“to give away; give up; release; forgive”), equivalent to for- + give (etymologically for- + yive). Cognate with Scots forgeve, forgif, forgie (“to forgive”), West Frisian ferjaan (“to forgive”), Dutch vergeven (“to forgive”), German vergeben (“to forgive”), Icelandic fyrirgefa (“to forgive”), Yiddish פֿאַרגעבן (fargebn, “to forgive”)