forstand

F4O1R1S1T1A1N1D2
UK/fə(ɹ)ˈstænd/UK/fɔː(ɹ)ˈstænd/US/fɚˈstænd/

verb

To stand against; stand in front of so as to bar the way; block; oppose; withstand.

OriginMiddle English forstanden ← Old English forstandan ← Proto-West Germanic *frastandan →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbforstand (third-person singular simple present forstands, present participle forstanding, simple past and past participle forstood)

present singular third person forstands · participle present forstanding · participle past forstood · past forstood · alternative forestand

  1. transitiveTo stand against; stand in front of so as to bar the way; block; oppose; withstand.

    A mighty angel there forstood them.

    1963, Fredericus Theodorus Visser, An historical syntax of the English language: Volume 1, Part 3
    3 more examples

    And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his mynde of griefe, there be a number of caveats therein to forewarne other young gentlemen to foreſtand with good government their folowing yl fortunes; […]

    1576, George Whetstone, “The Ortchard of Repentance: […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard, […] (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, [1867?], →OCLC, page 291

    "As he would more of them had not wise God, Wierd forstood him, and the man's courage."

    1849, John Mitchell Kemble, The Saxons in England

    Hemophilia is a contraindication for vaginal hysterectomy, unless you have the time to build your patient up in order to forestand the shock.

    1895, The Medical News
  2. UKdialectaltransitiveTo understand; comprehend.

    How can I forstand your Professors, when they dinna forstand themselves.

    1878, Samuel Smiles, Robert Dick: baker, of Thurso, geologist and botanist

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*frastandan“to understand, oppose”
  2. Old Englishforstandan“to defend, help, protect, withstand, prevent, hinder, resist, oppose, benefit, avail, understand, signify, be equal to”
  3. Middle Englishforstanden
  4. Englishforstand

From Middle English forstanden, from Old English forstandan (“to defend, help, protect, withstand, prevent, hinder, resist, oppose, benefit, avail, understand, signify, be equal to”), from Proto-West Germanic *frastandan (“to understand, oppose”), equivalent to for- + stand. Cognate with West Frisian ferstean (“to understand”), Saterland Frisian ferstounde (“to understand”), Dutch verstaan (“to understand”), German verstehen (“to understand”). Compare also Norwegian Bokmål forstå (“to comprehend, understand”), Swedish förstå (“to comprehend, understand”).

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

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Stanford
Cite this entry
APA

forstand. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forstand

MLA

“forstand.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forstand. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forstand,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forstand.

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