1154, "depraved," pp. of obsolete
forlesan "be deprived of, lose, abandon," from O.E.
forleosan, from
for- "completely" +
leosan "to lose" (see
lose). In the Mercian hymns, L.
perditionis is glossed by O.E.
forlorenisse. Originally "forsaken, abandoned;" sense of "wretched, miserable" first recorded 1582. Commonly in
forlorn hope (1579), which is a partial translation of Du.
verloren hoop, in which
hoop means "troop, band," lit. "heap," and the sense of the whole phrase is of a suicide mission. The phrase is usually used incorrectly in Eng., and the misuse has colored the sense of
forlorn.
[fawr-lawrn] 
