Meanings
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of forswear
plural forswearings
- The act of one who forswears.
Oh, by what plots, by what forswearings, betrayings, oppressions, imprisonments, tortures, poisonings, and under what reasons of state and politic subtilty, have these forenamed kings […] pulled the vengeance of God upon themselves […]
1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5)
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe act of renouncing; sacrificing or giving up or surrendering (a possession or right or title or privilege etc.)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishforswerynge
- Englishforswearing
From Middle English forswerynge; equivalent to for- + swearing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
forswearing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forswearing
“forswearing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forswearing. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forswearing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forswearing.
Source: forswearing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.