forfeit
pronunciation
How to pronounce forfeit in British English:
UK [ˈfɔːfɪt]
How to pronounce forfeit in American English:
US [ˈfɔːrfɪt]
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- Noun:
- something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty
- a penalty for a fault or mistake that involves losing or giving up something
- the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.
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- Verb:
- lose or lose the right to by some error, offense, or crime
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- Adjective:
- surrendered as a penalty
Word Origin
- forfeit
- forfeit: [13] A forfeit was originally a ‘transgression’ or ‘misdemeanour’. The word comes from Old French forfet, a derivative of the verb forfaire or forsfaire ‘commit a crime’. This was a compound formed from fors- ‘beyond (what is permitted or legal)’, which is descended from Latin forīs ‘outdoor, outside’ (source of English forest and related to foreign), and faire ‘do, act’, which came from Latin facere (whence English fact, fashion, feature, etc).The etymological meaning ‘misdeed’ was originally taken over from Old French into Middle English (‘Peter was in hand nummen [taken] for forfait he had done’, Cursor mundi 1300), but by the 15th century it was being edged out by ‘penalty imposed for committing such a misdeed’.=> door, fact, factory, fashion, forest, foreign
- forfeit (n.)
- late 14c., forfet, "misdeed, offense against established authority," also "something to which the right is lost through a misdeed," from Old French forfet, forfait "crime, punishable offense" (12c.), originally past participle of forfaire "transgress," from for- "outside, beyond" (from Latin foris; see foreign) + faire "to do" (from Latin facere; see factitious). A French version of Medieval Latin foris factum; the notion perhaps is to "do too much, go beyond (what is right)." As an adjective from late 14c., from Old French forfait. Compare foreclose.
- forfeit (v.)
- mid-14c., " transgress, offend, misbehave;" late 14c., "to lose by misconduct," from forfeit (n.) or from Anglo-French forfet, Old French forfait, past participle of forfaire. Related: Forfeited; forfeits; forfeiting.
Example
- 1. Did he forfeit the ability to pass the buck to republicans on debt reduction ?
- 2. The bidoun forfeit the amenities that the oil-rich emirate showers on its citizens , including education .
- 3. Jesus said , " what good is it for a man to gain the whole world , yet forfeit his soul ? "
- 4. You can 't cash out for at least 12 months , and you forfeit the last three months of interest if you redeem in less than five years .
- 5. Making youngsters forfeit part of their productive or educational potential can depress an economy just as heavy government debt or high income taxes do .