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Origin and history of forbore

forbore

past tense of forbear (v.).

Entries linking to forbore

forbear(v.)

"to abstain," Old English forberan "bear up against, control one's feelings, abstain from, refrain; tolerate, endure" (past tense forbær, past participle forboren), from for- + beran "to bear" (see bear (v.)). Related: Forbearer; forbearing; forbore. Of similar formation are Old High German ferberen, Gothic frabairan "to endure."

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    Trends of forbore

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    stand-by
    also standby, 1796, "that which stands by one," originally nautical, of a vessel kept nearby for emergencies, from verbal phrase stand by "await, support, remain beside" (mid-13c.), earlier "stand near, stand and watch" (late 12c.); see stand (v.) + by (prep); also compare bystan
    refrain
    mid-14c., refreinen, transitive, "exercise control over, restrain; hold (someone or something) back from action," senses now obsolete, also "exercise control over" (thoughts, desires, feelings, vices, etc.); from Old French refraigner, refrener, refreiner "restrain, repress, keep
    act
    late 14c., "a thing done," from Latin actus "a doing; a driving, impulse, a setting in motion; a part in a play," and actum "a thing done" (originally a legal term), both from agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward," hence "to do, perform," figuratively "incite to action;
    cat
    Old English catt (c. 700) "domestic cat," from West Germanic (c. 400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz (source also of Old Frisian katte, Old Norse köttr, Dutch kat, Old High German kazza, German Katze), from Late Latin cattus. The near-universal European word now, it appeared in
    leave
    Old English læfan "to allow to remain in the same state or condition; to let remain, allow to survive; to have left (of a deceased person, in reference to heirs, etc.); to bequeath (a heritage)," from Proto-Germanic *laibjanan (source also of Old Frisian leva "to leave," Old Saxo
    save
    c. 1200, saven, "to deliver from some danger; rescue from peril, bring to safety," also "prevent the death of;" also "to deliver from sin or its consequences; admit to eternal life; gain salvation," from Old French sauver "keep (safe), protect, redeem," from Late Latin salvare "m
    help
    Old English helpan "to help, support, succor; benefit, do good to; cure, amend" (transitive, class III strong verb; past tense healp, past participle holpen), from Proto-Germanic *helpanan (source also of Old Norse hjalpa, Old Frisian helpa, Middle Dutch and Dutch helpen, Old Hig
    parse
    1550s, in grammar, "to state the part of speech of a word or the words in a sentence," a verbal use of Middle English pars (n.) "part of speech" (c. 1300), from Old French pars, plural of part "a part," from Latin pars "a part, piece" (from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot")
    spare
    Middle English sparren, from Old English sparian, Mercian spearian, "refrain from harming or injury, leave undamaged; be indulgent to, allow to go free; use sparingly," from the source of Old English spær "sparing, frugal," from Proto-Germanic *sparaz (source also of Old Saxon sp
    spear
    "weapon with a penetrating head and a long wooden shaft, meant to be thrust or thrown," Middle English spere, from Old English spere "spear, javelin, lance," from Proto-Germanic *sperō (source also of Old Norse spjör, Old Saxon sper, Old Frisian sper, spiri, Dutch speer, Old High

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