Advertisement

Origin and history of forbid

forbid(v.)

Old English forbeodan "forbid, prohibit" (past tense forbead, plural forbudon, past participle forboden), from for- "against" + beodan "to command" (from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware"). Common Germanic compound (compare Old Frisian forbiada, Dutch verbieden, Old High German farbiotan, German verbieten, Old Norse fyrirbjoða, Swedish förbjuda, Gothic faurbiudan "to forbid").

In Middle English the past tense was forbad, the plural forbade, the past participle forbode. Related: Forbade; forbidden. Expression God forbid is recorded by early 13c. Forbidden fruit is from Genesis ii.17.

Entries linking to forbid

forbade

past tense of forbid.

forbidding(adj.)

1570s, "that forbids;" 1712 as "uninviting," present-participle adjective from forbid. Related: Forbiddingly; forbiddingness.

Advertisement

More to explore

permit
early 15c., permitten, transitive, "allow (something) to be done, suffer or allow to be," from Old French permetre and directly from Latin permittere "let pass, let go, let loose; give up, hand over; let, allow, grant, permit," from per "through" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward
allow
early 14c., allouen, "to commend, praise; approve of, be pleased with; appreciate the value of;" also, "take into account or give credit for," also, in law and philosophy, "recognize, admit as valid" (a privilege, an excuse, a statement, etc.). From late 14c. as "sanction or perm
interdict
c. 1300, enterditen, "to place under ban of the Church, excommunicate," from Old French entredit (Modern French interdit), past participle of entredire "forbid by decree, excommunicate," from Latin interdicere "interpose by speech, prohibit, forbid," from inter "between" (see int
Nuremberg
The Nuremberg Laws (1935) barred Jews from German citizenship and forbid intermarriage with Aryans....
ban
Proto-Germanic *bannan "to speak publicly" (used in reference to various sorts of proclamations), "command; summon; outlaw, forbid..." (source also of Old Frisian bonna "to order, command, proclaim," Old High German bannan "to command or forbid under threat...
garret
garir "defend, preserve," which is from a Germanic source (compare Old English warian "to hold, defend," Gothic warjan "forbid...
post
"a timber of considerable size set upright," from Old English post "pillar, doorpost," and from Old French post "post, upright beam," both from Latin postis "door, post, doorpost," in Medieval Latin "a beam, rod, pole," which is perhaps from Vulgar Latin *por- "forth," a variant
spot
c. 1200, "moral stain;" by mid-14c. as "speck, stain left by something on a surface;" probably at least in part from a variant of Old English splott "a spot, blot, patch (of land)," and partly from or related to Middle Dutch spotte "spot, speck." Other cognates are East Frisian s
stop
Middle English stoppen, "obstruct (a passage) with a physical barrier; close up by filling, stuffing, or plugging," from Old English -stoppian (in forstoppian "to stop up, stifle"), a general West Germanic word, cognate with Old Saxon stuppon, West Frisian stopje, Middle Low Germ

Share forbid

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near forbid
Advertisement