forbreak

F4O1R1B3R1E1A1K5

verb

To break in pieces, break up, destroy.

OriginMiddle English forbreken ← Old English forbrecan ← Proto-Germanic *frabrekaną →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

verbforbreak (third-person singular simple present forbreaks, present participle forbreaking, simple past forbroke, past participle forbroken)

present singular third person forbreaks · participle present forbreaking · past forbroke · participle past forbroken

  1. archaicTo break in pieces, break up, destroy.
  2. archaicTo break through, interrupt.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰreg-“to break”
  2. Proto-Germanic*frabrekaną“to break up”
  3. Old Englishforbrecan“to break up, break in pieces, violate, destroy”
  4. Middle Englishforbreken
  5. Englishforbreak

From Middle English forbreken, from Old English forbrecan (“to break up, break in pieces, violate, destroy”), from Proto-Germanic *frabrekaną (“to break up”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”), equivalent to for- (“fully, up”) + break. Cognate with Dutch verbreken (“to sever, disrupt”), German verbrechen (“to commit, perpetrate”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

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Cite this entry
APA

forbreak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forbreak

MLA

“forbreak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forbreak. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forbreak,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forbreak.

Source: forbreak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.