forget

/fəˈɡet/fur-GET

/fɚˈɡɛt/fur-GET

Meaningforgetting

Common meaning: to fail to remember

foraway; wrongly; utterlySkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 216 · scan
getto grasp, to obtainSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 232 · scan

‘away’ + ‘to grasp, to obtain’ → forget

Journey through time

for — Old English for- “away; wrongly; utterly” (path traced)
get — Old English gitan “to grasp, to obtain” (path traced)

Parts join in Old English as forgitan.

Old Englishfor- + gitan‘away; wrongly; utterly + to grasp, to obtain’source
Old Englishforgitansource B&T
Middle Englishforzetensource
Englishforget‘to fail to remember’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English forgitan, which Skeat analyses as for- ‘away; wrongly; utterly’ + gitan ‘to grasp, to obtain’.

Roots

forgitan Old English “forgetting”
gitan Old English “to grasp, to obtain”

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