Etymology

forthink

F4O1R1T1H4I1N1K5

Today it means: To cause distress or regret to; cause to regret or repent; to vex. Full definition →

Middle English forthinken ← Old English þyncan
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromþyncan“to seem, appear”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromforthinken
  3. English todayforthink

From Middle English forthinken, forthynken (“to displease, cause to regret”), corresponding to for- (“mis-”) + think (“to seem, appear”), from Old English þyncan (“to seem, appear”); see methinks. Cognate with Middle High German verdunken (“to displease”), Icelandic forþykkja (“to displease”). Compare also Old English forþencan (“to mistrust, despise, despair”), Dutch verdenken (“to suspect”), German verdenken (“to blame”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishþyncan all →

think

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.