The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section F, G and H

Chapter 35

Chapter 354,027 wordsPublic domain

For*get"ta*ble (?), a. Liable to be, or that may be, forgotten. Carlyle.

For*get"ter (?), n. One who forgets; a heedless person. Johnson.

For*get"ting*ly, adv. By forgetting.

For"ging (?), n. 1. The act of shaping metal by hammering or pressing.

2. The act of counterfeiting.

3. (Mach.) A piece of forged work in metal; -- a general name for a piece of hammered iron or steel.

There are very few yards in the world at which such forgings could be turned out.

London Times.

For*giv"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being forgiven; pardonable; venial. Sherwood.

For*give" (?), v. t. [imp. Forgave (?); p. p. Forgiven (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Forgiving] [OE. forgiven, foryiven, foryeven, AS. forgiefan, forgifan; perh. for- + giefan, gifan to give; cf. D. vergeven, G. vergeben, Icel. fyrirgefa, Sw. f&?;rgifva, Goth. fragiban to give, grant. See For-, and Give, v. t.] 1. To give wholly; to make over without reservation; to resign.

To them that list the world's gay shows I leave, And to great ones such folly do forgive.

Spenser.

2. To give up resentment or claim to requital on account of (an offense or wrong); to remit the penalty of; to pardon; -- said in reference to the act forgiven.

And their sins should be forgiven them.

Mark iv. 12.

He forgive injures so readily that he might be said to invite them.

Macaulay.

3. To cease to feel resentment against, on account of wrong committed; to give up claim to requital from or retribution upon (an offender); to absolve; to pardon; -- said of the person offending.

Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

Luke xxiii. 34.

I as free forgive you, as I would be fforgiven.

Shak.

Sometimes both the person and the offense follow as objects of the verb, sometimes one and sometimes the other being the indirect object. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Matt. vi. 12. "Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." Matt. ix. 2.

Syn. -- See excuse.

For*give"ness, n. [AS. forgifnes.] 1. The act of forgiving; the state of being forgiven; as, the forgiveness of sin or of injuries.

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses.

Dan. ix. 9.

In whom we have . . . the forgiveness of sin.

Eph. i. 7.

2. Disposition to pardon; willingness to forgive.

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

Ps. cxxx. 3, 4.

Syn. -- Pardon, remission. -- Forgiveness, Pardon. Forgiveness is Anglo-Saxon, and pardon Norman French, both implying a giving back. The word pardon, being early used in our Bible, has, in religious matters, the same sense as forgiveness; but in the language of common life there is a difference between them, such as we often find between corresponding Anglo-Saxon and Norman words. Forgive points to inward feeling, and suppose alienated affection; when we ask forgiveness, we primarily seek the removal of anger. Pardon looks more to outward things or consequences, and is often applied to trifling matters, as when we beg pardon for interrupting a man, or for jostling him in a crowd. The civil magistrate also grants a pardon, and not forgiveness. The two words are, therefore, very clearly distinguished from each other in most cases which relate to the common concerns of life.

For*giv"er (?), n. One who forgives. Johnson.

For*giv"ing, a. Disposed to forgive; inclined to overlook offenses; mild; merciful; compassionate; placable; as, a forgiving temper.

-- For*giv"ing*ly, adv. -- For*giv"ing*ness, n. J. C. Shairp.

For*go" (?), v. t. [imp. Forwent; p. p. Forgone; p. pr. & vb. n. Forgoing.] [OE. forgan, forgon, forgoon, AS. forgn, prop., to go past, hence, to abstain from; pref. for- + gn to go; akin to G. vergehen to pass away, to transgress. See Go, v. i.] To pass by; to leave. See 1st Forego.

For sith [since] I shall forgoon my liberty At your request.

Chaucer.

And four [days] since Florimell the court forwent.

Spenser.

This word in spelling has been confused with, and almost superseded by, forego to go before. Etymologically the form forgo is correct.

For*got" (?), imp. & p. p. of Forget.

For*got"ten (?), p. p. of Forget.

For*hall" (?), v. t. [Pref. for- + hale to draw.] To harass; to torment; to distress. [Obs.] Spenser.

For*hend" (?), v. t. To seize upon. [Obs.]

Fo*rin"se*cal (?), a. [L. forinsecus from without.] Foreign; alien. [Obs.] Bp. Burnet.

Fo`ris*fa*mil"i*ate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Forisfamiliated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Forisfamiliating (?).] [LL. forisfamiliatus, p. p. of forisfamiliater to forisfamiliate; L. foris abroad, without + familia family.] (LAw) Literally, to put out of a family; hence, to portion off, so as to exclude further claim of inheritance; to emancipate (as a with his own consent) from paternal authority. Blackstone.

Fo`ris*fa*mil"i*ate, v. i. (Law) To renounce a legal title to a further share of paternal inheritance.

Fo`ris*fa*mil`i*a"tion (?), n. (Law) The act of forisfamiliating.

Fork (fÙrk), n. [AS. forc, fr. L. furca. Cf. FourchÈ, Furcate.] 1. An instrument consisting of a handle with a shank terminating in two or more prongs or tines, which are usually of metal, parallel and slightly curved; -- used for piercing, holding, taking up, or pitching anything.

2. Anything furcate or like a fork in shape, or furcate at the extremity; as, a tuning fork.

3. One of the parts into which anything is furcated or divided; a prong; a branch of a stream, a road, etc.; a barbed point, as of an arrow.

Let it fall . . . though the fork invade The region of my heart.

Shak.

A thunderbolt with three forks.

Addison.

4. The place where a division or a union occurs; the angle or opening between two branches or limbs; as, the fork of a river, a tree, or a road.

5. The gibbet. [Obs.] Bp. Butler.

Fork beam (Shipbuilding), a half beam to support a deck, where hatchways occur. -- Fork chuck (Wood Turning), a lathe center having two prongs for driving the work. -- Fork head. (a) The barbed head of an arrow. (b) The forked end of a rod which forms part of a knuckle joint. -- In fork. (Mining) A mine is said to be in fork, or an engine to "have the water in fork," when all the water is drawn out of the mine. Ure. -- The forks of a river or a road, the branches into which it divides, or which come together to form it; the place where separation or union takes place.

Fork, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Forked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Forking.] 1. To shoot into blades, as corn.

The corn beginneth to fork.

Mortimer.

2. To divide into two or more branches; as, a road, a tree, or a stream forks.

Fork, v. t. To raise, or pitch with a fork, as hay; to dig or turn over with a fork, as the soil.

Forking the sheaves on the high-laden cart.

Prof. Wilson.

To fork over or out, to hand or pay over, as money. [Slang] G. Eliot.

Fork"beard` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) (a) A European fish (Raniceps raninus), having a large flat head; -- also called tadpole fish, and lesser forked beard. (b) The European forked hake or hake's-dame (Phycis blennoides); -- also called great forked beard.

Forked (?), a. 1. Formed into a forklike shape; having a fork; dividing into two or more prongs or branches; furcated; bifurcated; zigzag; as, the forked lighting.

A serpent seen, with forked tongue.

Shak.

2. Having a double meaning; ambiguous; equivocal.

Cross forked (Her.), a cross, the ends of whose arms are divided into two sharp points; -- called also cross double fitchÈ. A cross forked of three points is a cross, each of whose arms terminates in three sharp points. -- Forked counsel, advice pointing more than one way; ambiguous advice. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

-- Fork"ed*ly (#), adv. -- Fork"ed*ness, n.

For*kerve (?), v. t. [Obs.] See Forcarve, v. t.

Fork"i*ness (?), n. The quality or state or dividing in a forklike manner.

Fork"less, a. Having no fork.

Fork"tail` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) (a) One of several Asiatic and East Indian passerine birds, belonging to Enucurus, and allied genera. The tail is deeply forked. (b) A salmon in its fourth year's growth. [Prov. Eng.]

Fork"-tailed` (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Having the outer tail feathers longer than the median ones; swallow-tailed; -- said of many birds.

Fork-tailed flycatcher (Zoˆl.), a tropical American flycatcher (Milvulus tyrannus). - - Fork-tailed gull (Zoˆl.), a gull of the genus Xema, of two species, esp. X. Sabinii of the Arctic Ocean. -- Fork-tailed kite (Zoˆl.), a graceful American kite (Elanoides forficatus); -- called also swallow-tailed kite.

Fork"y (?), a. Opening into two or more parts or shoots; forked; furcated. "Forky tongues." Pope.

For*laft" (?), obs. p. p. of Forleave. Chaucer.

For*lay" (?), v. t. [Pref. for- + lay.] To lie in wait for; to ambush.

An ambushed thief forlays a traveler.

Dryden.

For*leave" (?), v. t. [OE. forleven; pref. for- + leven to leave.] To leave off wholly. [Obs.] Chaucer.

For*lend" (?), v. t. To give up wholly. [Obs.]

For*lese" (?), v. t. [p. p. Forlore (?), Forlorn (&?;).] [OE. forlesen. See Forlorn.] To lose utterly. [Obs.] haucer.

For*let", v. t. [OE. forleten, AS. forltan; pref. for- + ltan to allow; akin to G. verlassen to leave. See Let to allow.] To give up; to leave; to abandon. [Obs.] "To forlet sin." Chaucer.

For*lie" (?), v. i. See Forelie.

For*lore" (?), imp. pl. & p. p. of Forlese. [Obs.]

The beasts their caves, the birds their nests forlore.

Fairfax.

For*lorn" (?), a. [OE., p. p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleÛsan (p. p. forloren); pref. for- + leÛsan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. fˆrlora, Dan. forloren, Goth. fraliusan to lose. See For-, and Lorn, a., Lose, v. t.] 1. Deserted; abandoned; lost.

Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn.

Spenser.

Some say that ravens foster forlorn children.

Shak.

2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate.

For here forlorn and lost I tread.

Goldsmith.

The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme.

Prescott.

She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living.

Thomson.

A forlorn hope [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop; verloren, p. p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band; akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise.

Syn. -- Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.

For*lorn", n. 1. A lost, forsaken, or solitary person.

Forced to live in Scotland a forlorn.

Shak.

2. A forlorn hope; a vanguard. [Obs.]

Our forlorn of horse marched within a mile of the enemy.

Oliver Cromvell.

For*lorn"ly, adv. In a forlorn manner. Pollok.

For*lorn"ness, n. State of being forlorn. Boyle.

For*lye" (?), v. i. Same as Forlie. [Obs.]

-form (-fÙrm). [See Form, n.] A suffix used to denote in the form or shape of, resembling, etc.; as, valiform; oviform.

Form (frm; in senses 8 & 9, often frm in England), n. [OE. & F. forme, fr. L. forma; cf. Skr. dhariman. Cf. Firm.] 1. The shape and structure of anything, as distinguished from the material of which it is composed; particular disposition or arrangement of matter, giving it individuality or distinctive character; configuration; figure; external appearance.

The form of his visage was changed.

Dan. iii. 19.

And woven close close, both matter, form, and style.

Milton.

2. Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system; as, a republican form of government.

3. Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula; as, a form of prayer.

Those whom form of laws Condemned to die.

Dryden.

4. Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality; as, a matter of mere form.

Though well we may not pass upon his life Without the form of justice.

Shak.

5. Orderly arrangement; shapeliness; also, comeliness; elegance; beauty.

The earth was without form and void.

Gen. i. 2.

He hath no form nor comeliness.

Is. liii. 2.

6. A shape; an image; a phantom.

7. That by which shape is given or determined; mold; pattern; model.

8. A long seat; a bench; hence, a rank of students in a school; a class; also, a class or rank in society. "Ladies of a high form." Bp. Burnet.

9. The seat or bed of a hare.

As in a form sitteth a weary hare.

Chaucer.

10. (Print.) The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.

11. (Fine Arts) The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.

12. (Gram.) The particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech; as, participial forms; verbal forms.

13. (Crystallog.) The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.

14. (Metaph.) That assemblage or disposition of qualities which makes a conception, or that internal constitution which makes an existing thing to be what it is; -- called essential or substantial form, and contradistinguished from matter; hence, active or formative nature; law of being or activity; subjectively viewed, an idea; objectively, a law.

15. Mode of acting or manifestation to the senses, or the intellect; as, water assumes the form of ice or snow. In modern usage, the elements of a conception furnished by the mind's own activity, as contrasted with its object or condition, which is called the matter; subjectively, a mode of apprehension or belief conceived as dependent on the constitution of the mind; objectively, universal and necessary accompaniments or elements of every object known or thought of.

16. (Biol.) The peculiar characteristics of an organism as a type of others; also, the structure of the parts of an animal or plant.

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Good form or Bad form, the general appearance, condition or action, originally of horses, atterwards of persons; as, the members of a boat crew are said to be in good form when they pull together uniformly. The phrases are further used colloquially in description of conduct or manners in society; as, it is not good form to smoke in the presence of a lady.

Form (fÙrm), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Formed (fÙrmd); p. pr. & vb. n. Forming.] [F. former, L. formare, fr. forma. See Form, n.] 1. To give form or shape to; to frame; to construct; to make; to fashion.

God formed man of the dust of the ground.

Gen. ii. 7.

The thought that labors in my forming brain.

Rowe.

2. To give a particular shape to; to shape, mold, or fashion into a certain state or condition; to arrange; to adjust; also, to model by instruction and discipline; to mold by influence, etc.; to train.

'T is education forms the common mind.

Pope.

Thus formed for speed, he challenges the wind.

Dryden.

3. To go to make up; to act as constituent of; to be the essential or constitutive elements of; to answer for; to make the shape of; -- said of that out of which anything is formed or constituted, in whole or in part.

The diplomatic politicians . . . who formed by far the majority.

Burke.

4. To provide with a form, as a hare. See Form, n., 9.

The melancholy hare is formed in brakes and briers.

Drayton.

5. (Gram.) To derive by grammatical rules, as by adding the proper suffixes and affixes.

Form, v. i. 1. To take a form, definite shape, or arrangement; as, the infantry should form in column.

2. To run to a form, as a hare. B. Jonson.

To form on (Mil.), to form a lengthened line with reference to (any given object) as a basis.

For"mal (fÙr"mal), n. [L. formic + alcohol.] (Chem.) See Methylal.

Form"al (fÙrm"al), a. [L. formalis: cf. F. formel.] 1. Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance, or organization of a thing.

2. Belonging to the constitution of a thing, as distinguished from the matter composing it; having the power of making a thing what it is; constituent; essential; pertaining to or depending on the forms, so called, of the human intellect.

Of [the sounds represented by] letters, the material part is breath and voice; the formal is constituted by the motion and figure of the organs of speech.

Holder.

3. Done in due form, or with solemnity; according to regular method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; as, he gave his formal consent.

His obscure funeral . . . No noble rite nor formal ostentation.

Shak.

4. Devoted to, or done in accordance with, forms or rules; punctilious; regular; orderly; methodical; of a prescribed form; exact; prim; stiff; ceremonious; as, a man formal in his dress, his gait, his conversation.

A cold-looking, formal garden, cut into angles and rhomboids.

W. Irwing.

She took off the formal cap that confined her hair.

Hawthorne.

5. Having the form or appearance without the substance or essence; external; as, formal duty; formal worship; formal courtesy, etc.

6. Dependent in form; conventional.

Still in constraint your suffering sex remains, Or bound in formal or in real chains.

Pope.

7. Sound; normal. [Obs.]

To make of him a formal man again.

Shak.

Formal cause. See under Cause.

Syn. -- Precise; punctilious; stiff; starched; affected; ritual; ceremonial; external; outward. -- Formal, Ceremonious. When applied to things, these words usually denote a mere accordance with the rules of form or ceremony; as, to make a formal call; to take a ceremonious leave. When applied to a person or his manners, they are used in a bad sense; a person being called formal who shapes himself too much by some pattern or set form, and ceremonious when he lays too much stress on the conventional laws of social intercourse. Formal manners render a man stiff or ridiculous; a ceremonious carriage puts a stop to the ease and freedom of social intercourse.

For*mal"de*hyde (?), n. [Formic + aldehyde.] (Chem.) A colorless, volatile liquid, H2CO, resembling acetic or ethyl aldehyde, and chemically intermediate between methyl alcohol and formic acid.

Form"al*ism (fÙrm"al*z'm), n. The practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to, or dependence on, external forms, esp. in matters of religion.

Official formalism.

Sir H. Rawlinson.

Form"al*ist, n. [Cf. F. formaliste.] One overattentive to forms, or too much confined to them; esp., one who rests in external religious forms, or observes strictly the outward forms of worship, without possessing the life and spirit of religion.

As far a formalist from wisdom sits, In judging eyes, as libertines from wits.

Young.

For*mal"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Formalities (#). [Cf. F. formalitÈ.] 1. The condition or quality of being formal, strictly ceremonious, precise, etc.

2. Form without substance.

Such [books] as are mere pieces of formality, so that if you look on them, you look though them.

Fuller.

3. Compliance with formal or conventional rules; ceremony; conventionality.

Nor was his attendance on divine offices a matter of formality and custom, but of conscience.

Atterbury.

4. An established order; conventional rule of procedure; usual method; habitual mode.

He was installed with all the usual formalities.

C. Middleton.

5. pl. The dress prescribed for any body of men, academical, municipal, or sacerdotal. [Obs.]

The doctors attending her in their formalities as far as Shotover.

Fuller.

6. That which is formal; the formal part.

It unties the inward knot of marriage, . . . while it aims to keep fast the outward formality.

Milton.

7. The quality which makes a thing what it is; essence.

The material part of the evil came from our father upon us, but the formality of it, the sting and the curse, is only by ourselves.

Jer. Taylor.

The formality of the vow lies in the promise made to God.

Bp. Stillingfleet.

8. (Scholastic. Philos.) The manner in which a thing is conceived or constituted by an act of human thinking; the result of such an act; as, animality and rationality are formalities.

Form"al*ize (fÙrm"al*z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Formalized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Formalizing (?).] 1. To give form, or a certain form, to; to model. [R.]

2. To render formal.

Form"al*ize, v. i. To affect formality. [Obs.] ales.

Form"al*ly, adv. In a formal manner; essentially; characteristically; expressly; regularly; ceremoniously; precisely.

That which formally makes this [charity] a Christian grace, is the spring from which it flows.

Smalridge.

You and your followers do stand formally divided against the authorized guides of the church and rest of the people.

Hooker.

For"mate (?), n. [See Formic.] (Chem.) A salt of formic acid. [Written also formiate.]

For*ma"tion (fr*m"shn), n. [L. formatio: cf. F. formation.] 1. The act of giving form or shape to anything; a forming; a shaping. Beattie.

2. The manner in which a thing is formed; structure; construction; conformation; form; as, the peculiar formation of the heart.

3. A substance formed or deposited.

4. (Geol.) (a) Mineral deposits and rock masses designated with reference to their origin; as, the siliceous formation about geysers; alluvial formations; marine formations. (b) A group of beds of the same age or period; as, the Eocene formation.

5. (Mil.) The arrangement of a body of troops, as in a square, column, etc. Farrow.

Form"a*tive (?), a. [Cf. F. formatif.] 1. Giving form; having the power of giving form; plastic; as, the formative arts.

The meanest plant can not be raised without seed, by any formative residing in the soil.

Bentley.

2. (Gram.) Serving to form; derivative; not radical; as, a termination merely formative.

3. (Biol.) Capable of growth and development; germinal; as, living or formative matter.

Form"a*tive, n. (Gram.) (a) That which serves merely to give form, and is no part of the radical, as the prefix or the termination of a word. (b) A word formed in accordance with some rule or usage, as from a root.

For`mÈ" (?), a. (Her.) Same as PatÈ or PattÈ.

For"me (?), a. [OE., fr. AS. forma. See Foremost.] First. [Obs.] "Adam our forme father." Chaucer.

Formed (?), a. 1. (Astron.) Arranged, as stars in a constellation; as, formed stars. [R.]

2. (Biol.) Having structure; capable of growth and development; organized; as, the formed or organized ferments. See Ferment, n.

Formed material (Biol.), a term employed by Beale to denote the lifeless matter of a cell, that which is physiologically dead, in distinction from the truly germinal or living matter.

For"me*don (?), n. [OF., fr. Latin. So called because the plaintiff claimed "by the form of the gift,: L. per formam doni.] (O. Eng. Law) A writ of right for a tenant in tail in case of a discontinuance of the estate tail. This writ has been abolished.

For"mell (?), n. [Dim. of F. forme the female of a bird of prey.] (Zoˆl.) The female of a hawk or falcon.

Form"er (?), n. 1. One who forms; a maker; a creator.

2. (Mech.) (a) A shape around which an article is to be shaped, molded, woven wrapped, pasted, or otherwise constructed. (b) A templet, pattern, or gauge by which an article is shaped. (c) A cutting die.

For"mer (?), a. [A compar. due to OE. formest. See Foremost.] 1. Preceding in order of time; antecedent; previous; prior; earlier; hence, ancient; long past.

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age.

Job. viii. 8.

The latter and former rain.

Hosea vi. 3.

3. Near the beginning; preceeding; as, the former part of a discourse or argument.

3. Earlier, as between two things mentioned together; first mentioned.

A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critic; a man may be the former merely through the misfortune of an ill judgment; but he can not be latter without both that and an ill temper.

Pope.

Syn. -- Prior; previous; anterior; antecedent; preceding; foregoing.