Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “foregone” come from?

Foregone derives from the past participle of English forego, which comes from Middle English forgon and Old English forgān, meaning to go before or precede.

foregone (English): past participle of forego; previous, former;...

Definitions

  1. past participle of forego; previous, former;...

Ancestry of “foregone”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishforegoTo precede, to go before; Alternative spelling of...
2Middle Englishforgan—
3Old Englishforegān—
4Old Englishforebefore; forepart, front
5Proto-Germanicfuraibefore, in front of; before, in front
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpreh₂-before, in front
7Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →