forswear

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /fɔrˈswɛr/ UK /fɔːˈsweə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to renounce or reject under oath; to abjure

He forswore all violence and devoted his life to peace.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to renounce or reject under... renounce abjure disavow repudiate reject abnegate relinquish recant

Opposites

affirm embrace swear avow

Word family

Derived forms forswornforswearer

Related forms swear

Etymology

From Old English forswerian ('to swear falsely, renounce on oath'), combining the prefix for- (here negating or away) with swerian ('to swear'). It means to renounce under oath.

forswerian Old English swerian Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# forswear

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /fɔrˈswɛr/
**IPA (UK):** /fɔːˈsweə/

## Meanings
1. to renounce or reject under oath; to abjure

## Examples
- He forswore all violence and devoted his life to peace.

## Synonyms
- renounce
- abjure
- disavow
- repudiate
- reject
- abnegate
- relinquish
- recant

## Antonyms
- affirm
- embrace
- swear
- avow

## Derived Forms
- forsworn
- forswearer

## Related Forms
- swear

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: forswerian
- Root: swerian

## Etymology
From Old English forswerian ('to swear falsely, renounce on oath'), combining the prefix for- (here negating or away) with swerian ('to swear'). It means to renounce under oath.

## AI Etymology
Forswear comes from Old English forswerian ('to swear falsely, renounce on oath'), combining the prefix for- (here negating or away) with swerian ('to swear'). It means to renounce under oath. The development is chiefly inherited within English and its older relatives, with the later form continuing material already present in the language's ancestry. In present use, it is used as a verb meaning "to renounce or reject under oath; to abjure", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as forsworn and forswearer and related forms such as swear, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Old English forswerian and Old English swerian, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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