Forsake
/fɔːrˈseɪk/noun
To abandon or renounce someone or something.
Did you know?Forsake comes from an Old English verb meaning “to deny, renounce, or leave off,” and its old prefix for- often carried the sense of separation or loss, making the word feel like a linguistic ritual of rejection.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sek-
“to follow, seek”
Old English
OE
forsacan
“to renounce, deny, refuse”
Middle English
ME
forsaken
“to abandon, desert”
Modern English
English
forsake
“to abandon or renounce”