fors1t

A Middle English form of force1. fors2 (fôrs), n. [Perhaps [Perhaps connected with fur1, sheen forsake (for-sak'), v. t.; pret. forsook, pp. for saken or forsook, ppr. forsaking. [ up; renounce; reject. We hauen forsaken the worlde, and in wo lybbeth, In penaunce and pouerte. = Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 110. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Ps. xxxvii. 8. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments. Ps. lxxxix. 30. In this King's Time the Grecians forsook their Obedience Baker , Chronicles, p. 89. 21. To refuse (a request); deny (a statement). Thou mayst nat forsakyn that thou art yit bly eful. Chaucer, Boëthius, ii. prose 3. to the Church of Rome. IMG:content-1727.png:[blocks in formation] =Syn. 3. Forsake, Desert, Abandon, Relinquish, Quit. These all expre the idea of giving up or leaving. The first three are strong expre ions, ordinarily conveying the idea of lo to that which is left; the fourth, on the other hand, suggests lo to him who relinquishes. Forsake is chiefly applied to leaving that by which natural affection or a sense of duty should or might have led us to remain: as, to forsake one's home, friends, country, or cause; a bird forsakes its nest. In the pa ive it often means left desolate, forlorn. Forsake may be used in a good sense: as, the color forsook her cheeks; even hope forsook him. Desert may be synonymous with forsake, but in the active voice it usually implies a greater degree of culpability, and often the infringement of a legal obligation as, to desert one's family, regiment, ship, colors, post. Such was the original use of the word. Abandon most fully expre es complete and final severance of connection: as, to abandon a ship or a hopele undertaking to abandon hope or pro it implies the dropping of all care or concern for an object: as, to abandon one's offspring. Relinquish is not used with a personal object: as, to relinquish a claim, land, effort. (See lists under relinquish and abandon.) To quit is to leave finally or hastily, or both. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. 2341 Although I may be deserted by all men, integrity and firmne shall never forsake me. Washington, in Bancroft's Hist. Const., II. 360. Abandon all remorse; On horror's head horrors accumulate. Shak., Othello, iii. 3. Every point which a monarch loses or relinquishes but renders him the weaker to maintain the rest. Dryden, Post. to Hist. of League. All but mariners Plung'd in the foaming brine and quit the ve el. Shak ., Tempest, i. 2. Deserted; left; forsaken (for-sā'kn), p. a. abandoned; forlorn. The view is a noble one, looking out on the mainland and the sea, with the neighbouring island crowned by a forsaken monastery. E. A. Freeman , Venice, p. 235. One who forsakes or