forsake

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forsake

/fɔːˈseɪk/ UK
/fə-/ UK
/fɔɹˈseɪk/ US

Rhymes with -eɪk

Where it comes from

From Middle English forsaken (“to abandon, desert, repudiate, withdraw allegiance from”), from Old English forsacan (“to oppose; to give up, renounce; to decline, refuse”), from Proto-West Germanic *frasakan (“to forsake, renounce”). By surface analysis, for- + sake.

Cognates include Saterland Frisian ferseeke (“to deny, refuse”), West Frisian fersaakje, Dutch verzaken (“to renounce, forsake”), Middle High German versachen (“to deny”), Danish forsage (“to give up”), Swedish försaka (“to be without, give up”), Norwegian forsake (“to give up, renounce”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (sakan, “to quarrel; to rebuke”), .

verb forsakes · forsaking · forsook · forsaken · forsake

transitive To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something). Doeſt thou forſake the deuill and all his workes? / Aunſwere. I forſake them.
obsolete, transitive To decline or refuse (something offered). The youthful Bull muſt wander in the Wood; / Behind the Mountain, or beyond the Flood: / [...] / With two fair Eyes his Miſtreſs burns his Breaſt; / He looks and languiſhes, and leaves his Reſt; / Forſakes his Food, and pining for the Laſs, / Is joyleſs of the Grove, and ſpurns the growing Graſs.
obsolete, transitive To avoid or shun (someone or something). This was that Pascall lambe [i.e., Jesus] whose loue for vs so stood, / That on the mount of Caluerie, for vs did shed his blood: / Where hanging on the Crosse, no shame he did forsake, / Till death giuen him by pearcing speare, an ende of life did make.
obsolete, transitive To cause disappointment to; to be insufficient for (someone or something). Theſe birds, on the continent of America, continue to flutter the year round; as their food, which is the honey of flowers, never forſakes them in thoſe warm latitudes where they are found.

Translations

Every language

verb to abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something)

Español	abandonar, naufragar, jaquir, desamparar
日本語	放棄する hōki-suru, 見捨てる misuteru
中文	放棄 /放弃 fàngqì, 拋棄 /抛弃 pāoqì
Português	abandonar
Français	abandonner, renoncer
Deutsch	aufgeben, im Stich lassen, verlassen
Italiano	abbandonare, rinunciare
Ελληνικά	απαρνούμαι aparnoúmai, αποκηρύσσω apokirýsso, εγκαταλείπω egkataleípo, παρατώ parató
Română	abandona, lăsa, lepăda, părăsi, renunța
Русский	оста́вить ostávitʹ, оставля́ть ostavljátʹ, поки́нуть pokínutʹ, покида́ть pokidátʹ
العربية	هَجَرَ hajara

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{forsake_2026,
  title = {forsake},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/forsake},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}