forego

[fawr-goh, fohr-]

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verb (used with or without object), fore·went, fore·gone, fore·go·ing.

to go before; precede.

Origin of forego

before 900; Middle English forgon, forgan, Old English foregān. See fore-, go¹

Related formsfore·go·er, noun

forego

[fawr-goh, fohr-]

verb (used with object), fore·went, fore·gone, fore·go·ing.

forgo.

Related formsfore·go·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for forego

relinquish, renounce, forfeit, waive, refrain, eschew, forsake, quit, sacrifice, yield, neglect, pass, surrender, precede

Examples from the Web for forego

Contemporary Examples of forego

I was almost ready to forego probably the biggest movie of next year.
John Lithgow on the Sundance Film ‘Love Is Strange’ and Gay Rights in Utah
Marlow Stern
January 20, 2014
The band has to forego plane travel, personal assistants, and expensive hotels.
This Week’s Hot Reads, Oct. 21, 2013
Thomas Flynn
October 21, 2013
However, U.S. sanctions on Iran have led to pressure on Pakistan to forego cooperation with that country.
Pakistan’s Crucial Elections: There’s Much at Stake for the U.S.
Shirin Tahir-Kheli
May 10, 2013
In a one-state outcome, both sides would have to forego dreams of exclusivist nationalism.
If You Will It, It Is No Nightmare
Yousef Munayyer
December 10, 2012
Corporations do not pay lobbyists millions of dollars to forego their tax loopholes.
Why New Obama, Romney Tax Plans Are Going Nowhere
Eric Alterman
February 25, 2012

Historical Examples of forego

No one can honestly promise to forego the right which he has over all things.
A Theological-Political Treatise [Part IV]
Benedict of Spinoza
But forego, if possible, your pernicious stimulant of laudanum.
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
And hark you, Calderon, I tell you that I will not forego this pursuit.
Calderon The Courtier
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
It seemed hard to realize that one must forego it all for ever.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance
What means he by it, she asks, yet forego such opportunities as he had?
Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson

British Dictionary definitions for forego

forego

verb -goes, -going, -went or -gone

to precede in time, place, etc

Derived Formsforegoer, noun

Word Origin for forego

Old English foregān

forego

verb -goes, -going, -went or -gone

(tr) a variant spelling of forgo

Derived Formsforegoer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for forego

"to go before," Old English foregan "to go before," from fore- + go. The similarly constructed foredone "killed, destroyed," now is archaic, replaced by done for. Related: Foregoing; foregone.

Phrase foregone conclusion popularized in "Othello" [III.iii], but Shakespeare's sense was not necessarily the main modern one of "a decision already formed before the case is argued." Othello says it of Cassio's dream, and it is clear from the context that Othello means Cassio actually has been in bed with Desdemona before he allegedly dreamed it.