Join free

fore-

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

fore-¹

  • /fɔː/ UK
  • /fɔɹ/ US
  • /foːɹ/
  • /foə/

Sounds like four, for (horse–hoarse merger) · Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English fore-, from Old English fore-, from Proto-West Germanic *forē-, from Proto-Germanic *fura-, *furai- (“before, in front of, for”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, formerly; through, throughout”).

Akin to Old Saxon and Old High German fora-, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰- (faura-) (see 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰 (faura)), Dutch voor- (“fore-”).

prefix

  1. morpheme Before: the root is happening earlier in time. foreshadow
  2. morpheme The early stage of the root time period foredawn
  3. morpheme Directly or immediately preceding in time. forebirth
  4. morpheme Positioned at or near the front. forebooth
  5. morpheme The fore of a ship. forecabin
  6. morpheme Anterior: the frontal part of a body. forebrain
  7. morpheme Outer: the leading, outward portion of a wave or effort; or a distal part of a body. forebeam
  8. morpheme Forepart: the front part of an object or area. forebody
  9. morpheme Near, close to, adjacent in position. foredune
  10. morpheme Nearest: the part of the root which is nearest/closest. forebeach
  11. morpheme Forward in temporal direction, anticipating. foredawn
  12. morpheme Forward in spatial direction. forehearth
  13. morpheme Outward in spatial direction. forecry
  14. morpheme Previous or earlier in order or sequence. foredescribed
  15. morpheme First in order or sequence. forebell
  16. morpheme Greater in rank, superior forehand
  17. morpheme Prominent, most important, foremost or greatest in rank forecolour
  18. morpheme Ancestor, ancestral forebear

Similar: pre-, ante- · Opposite: post-, after-

fore-²

prefix

  1. morpheme Used to indicate error, exclusion, or inadequacy; Alternative form of for-. forelay

fore-³

Where it comes from

"Occurring only in words adopted from French, as forcatch v., forfeit n., forprise n., represents Old French for-, fors-, identical with fors adv. (modern French hors) outside, out."

prefix

  1. alternative, morpheme Alternative form of for-: outside, out. foreclose

Thesaurus

prefix

Similar: pre-, ante- · Opposite: post-, after-

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"fore-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fore-. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

fore-. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fore-

Chicago

"fore-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fore-.

BibTeX
@misc{fore_2026,
  title = {fore-},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fore-},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}