forlorn
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L222354 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /fəˈlɔːn/ / /fɔːˈlɔːn/ / /fɚˈlɔɹn/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan (“to lose”)), from Proto-Germanic *fraluzanaz (“lost”), past participle of Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną (“to lose”), equivalent to for- + lorn. Cognate with West Frisian ferlern (“lost”), Saterland Frisian ferlädden (“lost”), Dutch verloren (“lost”), German Low German verloren (“lost”), German verloren (“lost”), Swedish förlorad (“lost”). See further at lese/leese, lorn.
- Abandoned, deserted, left behind.
“For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.”
“Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The vvhilſt their ovvne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittifull.”
- Pitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
“For here forlorn and loſt I tread, / With fainting ſteps and ſlow; / Where wilds immeaſurably ſpread, / Seem lengthening as I go.”
“This is the Maiden all forlorn, That milked the Cow with the crumpled Horn[.]”
- Unlikely to succeed; hopeless.
“To begin therefore with Traditions, which is your forlorn hope that in the first place we are to set upon: this must I needs tell you before we begin, that you much mistake the matter, if you think that traditions of all sorts promiscuously are struck at by our religion.”
“Well! It is a forlorn hope at the best, and not much the forlorner for being delayed till dark.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan (“to lose”)), from Proto-Germanic *fraluzanaz (“lost”), past participle of Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną (“to lose”), equivalent to for- + lorn. Cognate with West Frisian ferlern (“lost”), Saterland Frisian ferlädden (“lost”), Dutch verloren (“lost”), German Low German verloren (“lost”), German verloren (“lost”), Swedish förlorad (“lost”). See further at lese/leese, lorn.
- A forlorn hope.
“The Regiment being drawn up into the former Figure, they may proceed to Firings upon it, firſt let the Forlorns fire five or six times over, being commanded by the eldeſt Captains Lieutenant, who is to be aſſiſted by a couple of able Serjeants; after let him wheel off to the right and left, and bring them down in the Reer of the Pikes. Then let the ſecond Captains Lieutenant being aſſiſted by two Serjeants lead up the reſerves by the out-ſide of the Pikes, at ſuch time when the Forlorns begin to come off, […]”
“[…] I ordered the forlorns to advance and to march, at their open order, towards the upland, and by this time the tide was upon the ground wee ſtood on: The forlorn were no ſooner advanced a few rods, before there was firing on both ſides; […]”
- A member of a forlorn hope.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan (“to lose”)), from Proto-Germanic *fraluzanaz (“lost”), past participle of Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną (“to lose”), equivalent to for- + lorn. Cognate with West Frisian ferlern (“lost”), Saterland Frisian ferlädden (“lost”), Dutch verloren (“lost”), German Low German verloren (“lost”), German verloren (“lost”), Swedish förlorad (“lost”). See further at lese/leese, lorn.
- past participle of forlese.