O.E.
forgytan, from
for- "passing by, letting go" (cf.
forbear, forgo) +
gietan "to grasp" (see
get). A common Gmc. construction (cf. O.S.
fargetan, Du.
vergeten, Ger.
vergessen "to forget"). The literal sense would be "to lose (one's) grip on," but that is not recorded in any Gmc. language.
Forgettable (1845) first attested in Carlyle.
Forget-me-not (the flowering plant
Myosotis palustris) is so called from 1532, from O.Fr.
ne m'oubliez mye; in 15c. the flower was supposed to ensure that those wearing it should never be forgotten by their lovers. Similar loan-transl. into other languages, cf. Ger.
Vergißmeinnicht, Sw.
forgätmigej, Hungarian
nefelejcs, Czech
nezabudka.