Etymology

underfong

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Today it means: To seduce, entrap; surround, overcome. Full definition →

Middle English underfongen ← Old English underfōn ← Proto-West Germanic *underfą̄han
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*underfą̄han“to receive, undertake”
  2. Old English · inherited fromunderfōn“to receive, undertake, accept”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromunderfongen
  4. English todayunderfong

From Middle English underfongen, underfangen, from Old English underfōn (“to receive, undertake, accept”), from Proto-West Germanic *underfą̄han (“to receive, undertake”). Cognate with Dutch ondervangen, German unterfangen.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.