fortread

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verb

To tread down; tread underfoot; trample upon; crush; destroy by trampling.

OriginMiddle English fortreden ← Old English fortredan ← Proto-Germanic *fratredaną →
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Meanings

verbfortread (third-person singular simple present fortreads, present participle fortreading, simple past fortrod, past participle fortrodden)

present singular third person fortreads · participle present fortreading · past fortrod · participle past fortrodden

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo tread down; tread underfoot; trample upon; crush; destroy by trampling.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*fratredaną
  2. Old Englishfortredan“to tread down, trample on”
  3. Middle Englishfortreden
  4. Englishfortread

From Middle English fortreden, from Old English fortredan (“to tread down, trample on”), from Proto-Germanic *fratredaną, *fratrudaną (“to trample”), equivalent to for- + tread. Compare Saterland Frisian fertreede, Dutch vertreden (“to trample”), German Low German vertreden, German vertreten ("to represent"; < Old High German firtretan (“to trample”)).

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

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Cite this entry
APA

fortread. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fortread

MLA

“fortread.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fortread. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fortread,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fortread.

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