English word origin

Etymology of forth

From Middle English forth, from Old English forþ, from Proto-West Germanic *forþ, from Proto-Germanic *furþą, from Proto-Indo-European *pŕ̥-to-, from *per-. Cognates include Dutch voort and German fort. See also ford.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

adv

Forward in time, place or degree. · Out into view; from a particular place or position. · Beyond a (certain) boundary; away; abroad; out.

prep

Forth from; out of.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionforthenm
Inherited-form mentionforþang
Inherited-form mention*forþgmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*furþągem-pro
Cognate mentionvoortnl
Cognate mentionfortde

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "forth"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English forth"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "forþ"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English forþ"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*forþ"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *forþ"
    },
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      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *furþą"
    },
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*pŕ̥-to-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pŕ̥-to-"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "voort"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch voort"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "fort"
      },
      "expansion": "German fort"
    }
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    ],
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      "forþ#Old_English"
    ],
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/forþ"
    ],
    [
      "*furþą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/furþą"
    ],
    [
      "*per-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/per-"
    ],
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      "voort",
      "voort#Dutch"
    ],
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      "fort",
      "fort#German"
    ],
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      "ford",
      "ford#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
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      "glosses": [
        "Forward in time, place or degree.",
        "Out into view; from a particular place or position.",
        "Beyond a (certain) boundary; away; abroad; out."
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        "Forth from; out of."
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

Misspelling of fourth.

adj

Misspelling of fourth.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From fourth; compare forty.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "forty#English"
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  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "glosses": [
        "Misspelling of fourth."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for forth →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-Zm9ydGg