forgoing

for·go

also fore·go (fôr-gō′)

tr.v. for·went (-wĕnt′), for·gone (-gôn′, -gŏn′), for·go·ing, for·goes

To abstain from; relinquish: unwilling to forgo dessert.

[Middle English forgon, from Old English forgān, go away, forgo : for-, for- + gān, to go; see ghē- in Indo-European roots.]

for·go′er n.

Usage Note: The verb forgo, meaning "to abstain from, do without," has forego as an acceptable variant. Thus, one can forgo or forego dessert, though the spelling without the e is far more common and is preferred in most dictionaries. Forego also exists as a separate word meaning "to go before, either in place or time," as in The essential points have been laid out in the foregoing pages. The two words have historically been spelled differently because they incorporate different prefixes: The fore- of forego is the same prefix (meaning "in front, ahead, before") found in forefather, forehead, and foreword, while the for- of forgo is akin to the for- in forget, forlorn, and forsake and usually denotes loss or removal.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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