Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “forfeiture” come from?

Forfeiture comes from Middle English forfeture, from Old French forfaiture, from Old French forfaire.

forfeiture (English): A legal action whereby a person loses all...

Definitions

  1. A legal action whereby a person loses all...

Ancestry of “forfeiture”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishforfeturecrime; punishment
2Old Frenchforfaitureviolation of a feudal duty; fine
3Old Frenchforfaireto forfeit; to commit a crime; to cause to...
4Old Frenchfaireto do
5Latinfaciō—
6Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
7Latin-tōrius—
8Latin-tor-er
9Proto-Italic-tōr—
10Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
11Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “forfeiture”

  • nonforfeiture
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →