forgo

C2+ Topic:Space, Position & Direction

US /fɔrˈɡoʊ/ UK /fɔːˈɡəʊ/ See IPA manual

Homophones

forego /fɔrˈɡoʊ/

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to abstain from or give up something

They forwent their bonuses to save jobs.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to abstain from or give up... relinquish abstain waive renounce surrender sacrifice eschew forsake

Opposites

keep retain indulge claim

Word family

Derived forms forgoingforgoneforgoer

Related forms go forego

Etymology

From Old English forgan ('to go without, abstain from, neglect'), combining the privative prefix for- with gan ('to go'). Often spelled forego by confusion with the homophone meaning 'to precede'.

forgan Old English gan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Space, Position & Direction

# forgo

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** fɔrˈɡoʊ
**IPA (UK):** fɔːˈɡəʊ

## Meanings
1. to abstain from or give up something

## Examples
- They forwent their bonuses to save jobs.

## Synonyms
- relinquish
- abstain
- waive
- renounce
- surrender
- sacrifice
- eschew
- forsake

## Antonyms
- keep
- retain
- indulge
- claim

## Derived Forms
- forgoing
- forgone
- forgoer

## Related Forms
- go
- forego

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: forgan
- Root: gan

## Etymology
From Old English forgan ('to go without, abstain from, neglect'), combining the privative prefix for- with gan ('to go'). Often spelled forego by confusion with the homophone meaning 'to precede'.

## AI Etymology
Forgo is from Old English forgan ('to go without, abstain from, neglect'), combining the privative prefix for- with gan ('to go'). Often spelled forego by confusion with the homophone meaning 'to precede'. Important recorded forms include forgan (Old English) and gan (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers to abstain from or give up something. The wider family includes derived forms such as forgoing, forgone, and forgoer and related words such as go and forego.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction

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forgo

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