forgo

Verb
US[fawr-goh]/fɔrˈɡoʊ/2 syllables
Synonyms: waiverelinquishforegoforesweardispense withpredateprecedeantecedeantedateforfeitgive upthrow overboard

Open English WordNet

Verb (3)forgone, forwent, forgoing

  1. do without or cease to hold or adhere to“We are dispensing with formalities”“relinquish the old ideas”Synonyms: waiverelinquishforegoforesweardispense withMore general act, moveMore specific kick, give up
  2. be earlier in time; go back further“Stone tools precede bronze tools”Synonyms: predateprecedeforegoantecedeantedateMore general precede, come before
  3. lose (something) or lose the right to (something) by some error, offense, or crime“you've forfeited your right to name your successor”“forfeited property”Synonyms: forfeitgive upthrow overboardwaiveforegoMore general abandonMore specific lapse
Word of the day · Nov 3About this word
incessantadjective

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

For·go′ transitive verb [past tense Forwent; past participle Forgone; present participle & verbal noun Forgoing.]

Origin: OE. forgan, forgon, forgoon, AS. forgān, prop., to go past, hence, to abstain from; pref. for- + gān to go; akin to G. vergehen to pass away, to transgress. See Go, intransitive verb

1. To pass by; to leave. See 1st Forego.

For sith [since] I shall forgoon my liberty At your request.— Geoffrey Chaucer
And four [days] since Florimell the court forwent.— Edmund Spenser

2. to abstain from; to do without; to refrain from; to renounce; — said of a thing already enjoyed, or of one within reach, or anticipated. See 1st forego, 2.

☞ This word in spelling has been confused with, and almost superseded by, forego to go before. Etymologically the form forgo is correct.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: GCIDE editors

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