forbear 
4- beran, bear: see/or-i and bear 1 ,'] I. trans. 
1. To refrain from ; abstain from; omit; avoid 
the doing or use of. 
Mom-Din? lasteth a Moone, after which they make drink- 
ings : but many after this \i\\lforbeare them. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 848. 
I had much ado 
To forbear laughing. B. Jonson, Volpone, v. 1. 
Then, but forbear your food a little while. 
Shak., As you Like it, ii. 7. 
To hear meekly, sir, and to laugh moderately ; or to for- 
bear both. Shah., L. L. L., i. 1. 
2. To spare ; excuse ; treat indulgently. [Ob- 
solete or archaic.] 
\Vhi beet thou him & forbare me? 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 211. 
Forfbearing one another in love. Eph. iv. 2. 
Agrippa desires you to forbear him till the next week; 
his mules are not yet come up. B. Jonton, Poetaster, i. 1. 
I pray tell my brother that his tenant Gage desires him 
to forbear him 10 till Whitsuntide. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 426. 
II. intrans. 1. To refrain; abstain; decline; 
stop ; cease ; hold off or back. 
Seven days I mot forbere, 
That I ne gyf no answere. 
Seven Sages, 1. 370. 
Shall I go against Ramoth-giload to battle, or shall I 
forbear! 1 Ki. xxii. 6. 
Forbear! 
Who's he that is so rude ? what's he that dares 
To interrupt our counsels ? 
Beau, and Fl., Laws of Candy, v. 1. 
2. To be patient ; endure ; restrain one's self 
from action or from violence. 
'foforbeare in anger is the poynt of a friendly leeche. 
Babeet Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 94. 
By long forbearing is a prince persuaded. Prov. xxv. 15. 
The kindest and the happiest pair 
Will find occasion to forbear. 
Cowper, Mutual Forbearance. 
= Syn. 1. To abstain, give over, desist, stay, leave off. 
forbear 2 , n. See forebear. 
forbearance (fQr-bar'ans), n. [< forbear* + 
-ance.~] 1. The act or state of forbearing; the 
cessation or intermission of an act commenced, 
or a refraining from beginning an act. 
This may convince us how vastly greater a pleasure is 
consequent upon the forbearance of sin than can possibly 
accompany the commission of it. Smith, Sermons. 
2. Command of temper; restraint of passions; 
long-suffering; indulgence toward an offender 
or injurer ; lenity. 
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and for- 
bearance and longsuffering? Rom. ii. 4. 
3. In law, an abstaining from the enforcement 
of a right; specifically, a creditor's giving of 
indulgence after the day originally fixed for 
payment: as, the loan or forbearance of money. 
4f. A withdrawing ; a keeping aloof. 
At my entreaty forbear his presence, till some little time 
hath qualified the heat of his displeasure. ... I pray you 
have a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes 
slower. Shak., Lear, i. 2. 
I shall crave your forbearance a little : may be I will 
call upon you anon. Shak., M. for M., iv. 1. 
=Syn. 1. Abstinence, refraining. 2. Patience, indul- 
gence, mildness. 
forbearant (f6r-bar'ant), a. [< forbear 1 + 
-ant 1 .] Forbearing. ' [Bare.] 
Whosoever had preferred sincerity, earnestness, depth 
of practical rather than theoretic insight, . . . must have 
come over to London, and with forbearant submissiveness 
listened to our Johnson. Carlyle, Misc., III. 237. 
fprbearantly (for-bar'ant-li), adv. Forbear- 
inely. [Bare.] 
forbearer (f6r-bar'er), n. One who forbears. 
The West, as a father, all goodness doth bring, 
The East, a forbearer, no manner of thing. 
Tutser, Properties of the Winds. 
forbearing (fQr-bar'ing), p. a. Characterized 
by patience and indulgence; long-suffering: 
as. a, forbearing temper. 
forbearingly (fr-bar'ing-li), adv. In a for- 
bearing, patient manner. 
forbeatt, fl. t. [< ME. forbeten ; < for- 1 + beat 1 , 
.] To beat; beat in pieces or to death. 
Blyndid were hise faire yjen, 
And al his ileisch bloodi for-bete. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 29. 
And Lucifer bynde, 
Andforbete and adown brynge. 
Piers Plowman (B), xviii. 35. 
forbedet, v. A Middle English form of forbid. 
forberet, v. A Middle English form of forbear 1 . 
forbid (fQr-bid'), v. ; pret. forbade, pp. forbid- 
den, forbid, ppr. forbidding. [< ME. forbeden, 
forbeoden (pret. forbad, forbade, forbed, far- 
bead, -pi. forbade, pp. forboden, forbedun ; rare- 
ly with weak pret. forbedde, pp. forbeded), 
< AS. forbeddau (pret. forbedd, pi. forbudon. 
2317 
pp. forboden) (= OFries. forbiada = D. vcrbie- 
den = MLG. verbeden, LG. rerbeen, rerbeien = 
OHG.farbiot.an, MHG. G. verbieten = Icel./i/n'r- 
bjodlta = Dan. forbyde = Sw. forbjuda), for- 
bid, prohibit, < for- + bcodan, command, bid: 
see for- 1 and bid (2).] I. trans. 1. To bid or 
command, as to a thing, that it shall not be 
done ; prohibit by command, or as with authori- 
ty; issue an order against, as the doing of or 
being something; interdict: often with a per- 
son as indirect object and an act or thing as 
direct object: as, to forbid the banns (that is, 
the proclamation of the banns) ; I forbid you 
my house (that is, to enter my house). 
I expressly am forbid to touch it, 
For it engenders choler, planteth anger. 
Shak., T. of the S., iv. 1. 
God forbid it should be necessary to be a scholar, or a 
critic, in order to be a Christian. 
Sydney Smith, in Lady Holland, iii. 
2. To prohibit the use or action of ; put under 
ban ; restrain within limits. 
Theiseye that wee synne dedly in etynge of Bestesthat 
wereii forboden in the Old Testement, and of the olde 
Lawe. Mandeville, Travels, p. 20. 
The Firmament shall retrograde his course . . . 
Yer I presume with fingers ends to touch 
(Much less with lips) the Fruit forbod so much. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., Eden. 
Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, 
And therefore I forbid my tears. 
Shak., Hamlet, iv. 7. 
Sleep shall neither night nor day 
Hang upon his pent-house lid ; 
He shall live a man forbid. 
Shak., Macbeth, i. 3. 
3. To prohibit in effect; stand in the way of; 
prevent : as, an impassable river forbids the 
approach of the army. 
A blaze of glory that forbids the sight. Drtjden. 
Fear/orborfe her tongue to move. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 63. 
Any real political union between the United States of 
America and the kingdom of Great Britain is a thing which 
geographical conditions forbid. 
E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 67. 
4f. To defy; challenge. Davies. 
To them whom the mist of envy hath so blinded that 
they can see no good at all done but by themselves, I for- 
bid them, the best of them, to show me in Rheims or in 
Rome, or any popish city Christian, such a show as we 
have seen here these last two days. 
Bp. Andrews, Sermons, V. 36. 
Tp forbid the banns. See banns. =Syn. 1. Forbid, Pro- 
hibit, Interdict. Forbid is the common word ; prohibit is 
formal, legal, and generally more emphatic ; interdict is 
legal, and especially ecclesiastical : as, to forbid the use of 
a private way ; to prohibit the importation of opium ; to 
interdict intercourse. 
Thy coming hither, though I know thy scope, 
I bid not, or forbid. Milton, F. R., i. 495. 
Thomas Jefferson first summoned congress to prohibit 
slavery in all the territory of the United States. 
Bancroft, Hist. Const., II. 116. 
Alone I pass'd through ways 
That brought me on a sudden to the tree 
Of interdicted knowledge. Milton, P. L., v. 62. 
II. intrans. To utter a prohibition. 
Forbid who will, none shall from me withhold 
Longer thy offer'd good. Milton, V. L., v. 62. 
God forbid. See God. 
forbiddance (f^r-bid'ans), n. [< forbid + -ance.~\ 
The act of forbidding, or the state of being 
forbidden; prohibition; a command or edict 
against a thing. [Bare.] 
The forbiddance of Gilds in the Prankish Empire could 
also be justified from religious motives, in consequence of 
the gluttony and pagan customs always associated witli 
them. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), Int., p. Ixxix. 
Other and yet grander mountain ramparts thrust their 
great forbiddance on the reaching vision. 
Mrs. Whitney, Leslie Goldthwaite, xi. 
forbidden (fQr-bid'n),^. a. Prohibited; inter- 
dicted. 
The fruit 
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, and all our woe. 
Milton, P. L., i. 2. 
To joys forbidden man aspires, 
Consumes his soul with vain desires. 
Courper, Pineapple and Bee. 
Forbidden degrees, in law. See degree. Forbidden 
fruit, (a) The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil, of which Adam and Eve partook, according to the 
account in Gen. iii. (6)*A large variety of the common 
orange, (c) Figuratively, unlawful pleasure of any kind ; 
specifically, illicit love. 
forbiddenly (f$r-bid'n-li), adv. In a forbidden 
or unlawful manner. 
He thinks that you have touch'd his queen forbiddenlt/. 
Shak.,Vi.1.,i.'2. 
forbiddennesst (fdr-bid'n-neg), n. The state 
of being forbidden or prohibited. 
These suggested such strange and hideous thoughts, and 
such distracting doubts of some of the fundamentals of 
forbreak 
Christianity, that though his looks did little betray his 
thoughts, nothing but forbiildeitnexs of self dispatch hin- 
dered his acting it. Ili'tilc, Works, I. 23. 
forbidder (for-bid'er), . One who or that 
which forbids. 
Other care perhaps 
May have diverted from continual watch 
Our great Forbidder, safe with all bis spies 
About him. Milton, P. L., ix. 815. 
forbidding (fQr-bid'ing), p. a. Repelling ap- 
proach ; repellent ; repulsive ; raising aversion 
or dislike; disagreeable: as, & forbidding aspect ; 
forbidding weather; forbidding manners. 
There was something, I fear, forbidding in my look. 
Sterne, Sentimental Journey, p. 7. 
Not all his large estate in Derbyshire could . . . save 
him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable coun- 
tenance. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, p. 7. 
=Syn. Unpleasant, displeasing, offensive, odious, abhor- 
rent. repellent. 
forbiddingly (fQr-bid'ing-H), adv. In a forbid- 
ding manner ; repellentry. 
forblddingness (f&r-bid'ing-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being forbidding; repulsiveness. 
Richardson. 
forbid-treet, [ME. 'forboden tre, forbidden 
tree, i. e., one forbidden to be cut down.] See 
the etymology and the extract. 
Concerning the Forest of Deane, and the timber there, 
. . . with the age of many trees there left, at a great fall 
in Edward the Third's time, by the name of forbid-trees, 
which at this day are called mrlrid trees. 
Pepys, Diary, I. 311. 
A Middle English form of fur- 
Same as 
forbischt, v. t. 
bisli. 
forbiset, v. t. [ME. ; < forbisen, v.] 
forbisen, 2. 
It nedeth me noght the longe to forbise. 
Chaucer, Troilus, ii. 1390. 
forbisent, . [ME., a,lsoforbi$on,forbysen,for- 
bysne, etc., < AS. forebysen, an example, < fore, 
fore, + bysen, an example, pattern, parable, 
command, = OS. (in comp.) am-busan = Goth. 
ana-busns, a command.] 1. An example; a 
model ; a pattern. 
Holy cherche is honoured heysllche thorns his deynge, 
He is zforbyxene to alle bishopes and a brijt myronre. 
Piers Plowman (B), xv. 555. 
2. A parable ; a fable. 
" By aforbisene," quod the frere, " I shal the faire shewe." 
Fieri Plowman (B), viii. 29. 
3. A proverb. Ayenbite of Inwit. 
forbisent, r. t. [ME. forbiscnen, forbisnc (also 
abbr. forbise) ; from the noun.] 1. To give as 
an example. 
Fele men haiien the tokningof this forbisnede thing. 
Bestiary, 1. 688. 
2. To furnish with examples. 
forbitet, r. t. [ME. forbiten (= D. verbijten = 
LG. rerbiten = G. verbeissen); (.for- 1 + bite, v.'] 
To bite to pieces. 
It norissheth nice sigtes and some tyme wordes, 
And wikked werkes ther-of wormes of synne, 
Andforbiteth the blosmes rijt to the bare leues. 
Piers Plowman (B), xvi. 35. 
forblackt, . [ME., <for- 1 + black.] Exceed- 
ingly black. 
As eny ravenes fether it schon forblak. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1286. 
forbodt, forbodet, . [ME. forbod, forbode, < 
AS. forbod (= D. verbod = MHG. G. rerbot = 
Sw. forbad = Dan. forbud, a forbidding, prohi- 
bition), <.forbeddan (pp. forboden), forbid: see 
forbid.] A forbidding; a command forbid- 
ding a thing; a prohibition God's forbode, 
Lord's forbode. used elliptically as an exclamation, like 
the verb use God forbid. 
' ' Godys forbode," quath [his] f ellawe, " but ho forth passe 
Wil ho is in purpose with vs to departen." 
Piers Plan-man's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 415. 
Secondly he is beyond all reason or, God's forbod, dis 
tractedly enamourd of his own beautie. 
iVa^A, Haue with you to Saffron- Walden, sig. L. 
forbodet, forbodent. Obsolete forms of for- 
bidden, past participle of forbid. 
forbore (f6r-bor'). Preterit of forbear 1 . 
forborne (f&r-born'). Past participle of for- 
bear 1 . 
forboughtt. Past participle offorbuy. 
forbreakt (f&r-brak'), v. t. [ME. forbreken, < 
AS. forbrecan (pret. forbrcec, pp. forbrncen), 
break, break down, violate (= D. rerbrefren = 
OHG. farbrechan, MHG. G. verbreclien), < for- 
+ brecan, break: see for- 1 and break.] 1. To 
break in pieces ; destroy. 
Vndiscrete trauellynge turnes the braynes in his heuede, 
znAforbrekes the myghtes and the wittes of the saule and 
of the body. Hampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 17. 
2. To break through ; interrupt. 
