Forsake - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: Forsake

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

for·sake

Audio Help [fawr-seyk] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -sook, -sak·en, -sak·ing.

1.	to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert: She has forsaken her country for an island in the South Pacific.

2.	to give up or renounce (a habit, way of life, etc.).

[Origin: bef. 900; ME forsaken to deny, reject, OE forsacan, equiv. to for- for- + sacan to dispute

]

—Related forms

for·sak·er, noun

—Synonyms 1. See desert². 2. forswear, relinquish, forgo.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Forsake

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

for·sake Audio Help (fôr-sāk', fər-) Pronunciation Key
tr.v. for·sook (-sŏŏk'), for·sak·en (-sā'kən), for·sak·ing, for·sakes

To give up (something formerly held dear); renounce: forsook liquor.
To leave altogether; abandon: forsook Hollywood and returned to the legitimate stage.

[Middle English forsaken, from Old English forsacan; see sāg- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
forsake

O.E. forsacan "decline, refuse," from for- "completely" + sacan "to deny, refuse" (see sake).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

forsake
verb
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; "The mother deserted her children" [syn: abandon]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
forsake [fəˈseik] verb — past tense forsook [fəˈsuk]; past participle forˈsaken

to leave alone; to abandon
Example: He was forsaken by his friends.

Arabic:	يَهْجُر، يَتَخَلّى عن
Chinese (Simplified):	抛弃
Chinese (Traditional):	拋棄
Czech:	opustit
Danish:	forlade; svigte
Dutch:	in de steek laten
Estonian:	hülgama
Finnish:	hylätä
French:	abandonner
German:	verlassen
Greek:	εγκαταλείπω
Hungarian:	elhagy
Icelandic:	yfirgefa, hverfa frá
Indonesian:	meninggalkan
Italian:	abbandonare

Japanese:	見捨てる
Korean:	버리다
Latvian:	pamest; atstāt
Lithuanian:	apleisti
Norwegian:	svikte, forlate
Polish:	porzucić
Portuguese (Brazil):	abandonar
Portuguese (Portugal):	abandonar
Romanian:	a părăsi, a abandona
Russian:	покидать
Slovak:	opustiť
Slovenian:	zapustiti
Spanish:	abandonar
Swedish:	överge, lämna
Turkish:	terketmek

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Forsake

A*ban"don\ ([.a]*b[a^]n"d[u^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abandoned (-d[u^]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Abandoning.] [OF. abandoner, F. abandonner; a (L. ad) + bandon permission, authority, LL. bandum, bannum, public proclamation, interdiction, bannire to proclaim, summon: of Germanic origin; cf. Goth. bandwjan to show by signs, to designate OHG. ban proclamation. The word meant to proclaim, put under a ban, put under control; hence, as in OE., to compel, subject, or to leave in the control of another, and hence, to give up. See Ban.]

1. To cast or drive out; to banish; to expel; to reject. [Obs.]

That he might . . . abandon them from him. --Udall.

Being all this time abandoned from your bed. --Shak.

2. To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely; to renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or concern on; to desert, as a person to whom one owes allegiance or fidelity; to quit; to surrender.

Hope was overthrown, yet could not be abandoned. --I. Taylor.

3. Reflexively: To give (one's self) up without attempt at self-control; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly; -- often in a bad sense.

He abandoned himself . . . to his favorite vice. --Macaulay.

4. (Mar. Law) To relinquish all claim to; -- used when an insured person gives up to underwriters all claim to the property covered by a policy, which may remain after loss or damage by a peril insured against.

Syn: To give up; yield; forego; cede; surrender; resign; abdicate; quit; relinquish; renounce; desert; forsake; leave; retire; withdraw from.

Usage: To Abandon, Desert, Forsake. These words agree in representing a person as giving up or leaving some object, but differ as to the mode of doing it. The distinctive sense of abandon is that of giving up a thing absolutely and finally; as, to abandon one's friends, places, opinions, good or evil habits, a hopeless enterprise, a shipwrecked vessel. Abandon is more widely applicable than forsake or desert. The Latin original of desert appears to have been originally applied to the case of deserters from military service. Hence, the verb, when used of persons in the active voice, has usually or always a bad sense, implying some breach of fidelity, honor, etc., the leaving of something which the person should rightfully stand by and support; as, to desert one's colors, to desert one's post, to desert one's principles or duty. When used in the passive, the sense is not necessarily bad; as, the fields were deserted, a deserted village, deserted halls. Forsake implies the breaking off of previous habit, association, personal connection, or that the thing left had been familiar or frequented; as, to forsake old friends, to forsake the paths of rectitude, the blood forsook his cheeks. It may be used either in a good or in a bad sense.

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