forfend
[ fawr-fend ]
/ fɔrˈfɛnd /
verb (used with object)
Nearby words
foreyard, forfaiting, forfar, forfeit, forfeiture, forfend, forfex, forficate, forfochen, forgat, forgather
Also forefend.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for forfend
Is it not rather the blind brute instinct of self-protection, forfend what may?
Canada: the Empire of the North|Agnes C. LautOf all travelling companionship, forfend us from that of a married man!
And allowance must likewise be made for thy connubial grief which caused thee to forfend thy wife's body from the demon.
The Fantasy Fan January 1934|VariousForfend me from a man who weighs every expression with Scotch prudence.
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
Word Origin and History for forfend
forfend
also forefend, late 14c., "to protect, prohibit; to avert, prevent," a hybrid from for- + fend, from Latin defendere "to ward off."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper