forfend

[ fawr-fend ]

See synonyms for forfend on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to defend, secure, or protect.
to fend off, avert, or prevent.

Archaic. forbid.

Origin of forfend

First recorded in 1350–1400, forfend is from the Middle English word forfenden.See for-, fend

Also forefend [fawr-fend, fohr-] /fɔrˈfɛnd, foʊr-/ .

Words Nearby forfend

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use forfend in a sentence

Heaven forfend that change in any shape, whether of embellishment or of decay, should fall upon that cottage!
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VII, December 1850, Vol. II | Various
God forfend that she should come home to-night and find you here!
The Black Douglas | S. R. Crockett
Unless they actually set fire to the steeple, which Heaven forfend, we can laugh at them.
The Young Cavalier | Percy F. Westerman
Is it not rather the blind brute instinct of self-protection, forfend what may?
Canada: the Empire of the North | Agnes C. Laut
Heaven forfend me from Lamarck nonsense of a "tendency to progression," "adaptations from the slow willing of animals," etc.!
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II) | Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for forfend

forfend

forefend

/ (fɔːˈfɛnd) /

verb(tr)

US to protect or secure
obsolete to prohibit or prevent

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

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