forsay

Meanings

verbforsay (third-person singular simple present forsays, present participle forsaying, simple past and past participle forsaid)

present singular third person forsays · participle present forsaying · participle past forsaid · past forsaid

archaicto forbid; to renounce
worldly sovenance he must forsay
1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Maye. Ægloga Quinta.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC
Synonyms: abjure, disavow, forswear, abjure, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown
archaicto deny, gainsay
archaicto forsake

Synonyms & antonyms

verbto forbid; to renounce

Also see

abjure deny disown forswear renounce repudiate wash one's hands

Origin

Old Englishforseċġan“to accuse, accuse falsely, slander, speak about, discourse on”
Middle Englishforsayen“to renounce”
Englishforsay

From Middle English forsayen (“to renounce”), from Old English forseċġan (“to accuse, accuse falsely, slander, speak about, discourse on”), equivalent to for- + say. Cognate Dutch verzeggen (“to deny, forbid”), German Low German verseggen (“to refuse, deny”), German versagen (“to refuse, deny”), Swedish försäga (“to misspeak, say too much”). More at for-, say.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →