Etymology

forsteal

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Today it means: To steal away, rob, deprive. Full definition →

Middle English forstelen ← Old English forstelan ← Proto-Germanic *farstelaną
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forsteal · verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*farstelaną
  2. Old English · inherited fromforstelan“to steal away, steal, rob, deprive”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromforstelen
  4. English todayforsteal

From Middle English forstelen, from Old English forstelan (“to steal away, steal, rob, deprive”), from Proto-Germanic *farstelaną, *frastelaną (“to steal, steal away”), equivalent to for- + steal. Cognate with Middle Low German vorstelen (“to steal away”), Middle High German ferstelan (“to steal away”).

forsteal · noun2

Variant of forestall.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.