English

for

/fɔː/
Because.

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    Origin

    Inherited from Middle English for, from Old English for (“for, because of”), from Proto-Germanic *furi (“for”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-.

    Cognate with West Frisian foar (“for”), Dutch voor (“for”), German für (“for”), Danish for (“for”), Swedish för (“for”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk for (“for”), Icelandic fyrir (“for”), Latin per (“by, through, for, by means of”) and Romance language descendants (e.g. Spanish por (“for”)), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “for, about, toward”), Lithuanian per (“by, through, during”), Slovak pre (“for”), Sanskrit परि (pári, “over, around”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishfor
      • inheritedOld Englishfor
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*furi
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*furi “for”
    • rootProto-Indo-European*preh₂- “before”

    Related: West Frisian foar, Dutch voor, German für, Danish for, Swedish för, nb,nn for, Icelandic fyrir, Latin per, Spanish por, Ancient Greek περί, Lithuanian per, Slovak pre, Sanskrit परि

    Words built on it: for good

    Sources