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Origin and history of foregoing

foregoing(adj.)

mid-15c., "preceding, antecedent, going before in time or place," present-participle adjective from forego. As a noun from 1660s.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to foregoing

forego(v.)

"to go before," Old English foregan "to go before," from fore- + go (v.). Related: Foregoer, foregoing; foregone. Similar formation in Dutch voorgaan, German vorgehen, Danish foregaa.

Phrase foregone conclusion echoes "Othello" [III.iii], but Shakespeare's sense was not necessarily the main modern one of "a decision already formed before the case is argued." Othello says it of Cassio's dream, and it is clear from the context that Othello means Cassio actually has been in bed with Desdemona before he allegedly dreamed it (the suspicion Iago is nourishing in him). In this case conclusion is probably meant in the sense of "final outcome," not that of "result of an examination."

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    optometry
    When I made the foregoing Experiments, I designed to repeat them with more Care and Exactness, and to make some new ones...
    forfeit
    late 14c., forfet, "misdeed, offense against established authority," also "something to which the right is lost through a misdeed," from Old French forfet, forfait "crime, punishable offense" (12c.), originally past participle of forfaire "transgress," from for- "outside, beyond"
    waive
    c. 1300, "deprive of legal protection," from Anglo-French weyver "to abandon, waive" (Old French guever "to abandon, give back"), probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse veifa "to swing about," from Proto-Germanic *waif-, from PIE root *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tr
    relinquish
    mid-15c., relinquishen, "desert, abandon" (someone, a sense now obsolete); late 15c., "give up the pursuit or practice of, desist, cease from;" from Old French relinquiss-, present-participle stem of relinquir (12c.), from Latin relinquere "leave behind, forsake, abandon, give up
    abandon
    late 14c., "to give up (something) absolutely, relinquish control, give over utterly;" also reflexively, "surrender (oneself), yield (oneself) utterly" (to religion, fornication, etc.), from Old French abandonner "surrender, release; give freely, permit," also reflexive, "devote
    precede
    early 15c., preceden, "lead the way; occur or exist before, go before in order of time," from Old French preceder and directly from Latin praecedere "to go before," from prae "before" (see pre-) + cedere "to go" (from PIE root *ked- "to go, yield"). Meaning "to walk in front of"
    claim
    c. 1300, "to call, call out; to ask or demand by virtue of right or authority," from accented stem of Old French clamer "to call, name, describe; claim; complain; declare," from Latin clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim," from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout." Related: Claimed; cl
    malic
    "pertaining to apples, obtained from the juice of apples," 1790 (in malic acid, in a translation of Fourcroy), from French malique, from Latin mālum "apple" from Greek mēlon (Doric malon) "apple," which is probably from the Pre-Greek substrate language. The Latin and Greek words
    lapse
    mid-15c., "elapsing of time, expiration;" also "temporary forfeiture of a legal right" due to some failure or non-action by the holder, from Old French laps "lapse," from Latin lapsus "a slipping and falling, a landslide; flight (of time); falling into error," from labi "to glide
    compromise
    early 15c., "a joint promise to abide by an arbiter's decision," from Old French compromis (13c.), from Late Latin compromissus, past participle of compromittere "to make a mutual promise" (to abide by the arbiter's decision), from com "with, together" (see com-) + promittere "to

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