different between deny vs forsake

English

Etymology

From Middle English denyen, from Old French denoier (“to deny, to repudiate”) (French dénier), from Latin denegare (“to deny, to refuse”), from de- (“away”) and negare (“to refuse”), the latter ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“no, not”). Doublet of denegate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??na?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d??na?/, /d?-/
• Rhymes: -a?
• Hyphenation: de?ny

Verb

deny (third-person singular simple present denies, present participle denying, simple past and past participle denied)

1. (transitive) To disallow or reject.
2. (transitive) To assert that something is not true.
3. (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
   • 1754, Jonathan Edwards, An Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions Respecting that Freedom of the Will which is supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency

     To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it.
4. To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
5. (sports, transitive) To prevent from scoring.
6. To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     the falsehood of denying his opinion

   • 1827, John Keble, The Christian Year

     thou thrice denied, yet thrice beloved

7. (obsolete) To refuse (to do or accept something).

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs.
• Deny can have a connotation that the denial is false; he denied knowing the accused has a more suspicious tone than he said he did not know the accused. However, in some formal usages, e.g. medical records, it can have a more neutral sense (patient denies chest pain).
• See refute.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (assert something is not true): gainsay, contradict, withsay, refute, disclaim

Antonyms

• (disallow): allow
• (assert something is true): confirm, affirm

Derived terms

• deniability
• denier
• justice delayed is justice denied

Related terms

• denial

Translations

Anagrams

• E.D.N.Y., Ynde, dyne

English

Etymology

From Middle English forsaken (“to abandon, desert, repudiate, withdraw allegiance from; to deny, reject, shun; to betray; to divorce (a spouse); to disown; to be false to (one's nature, vows, etc.; to give up, renounce, surrender; to discard; to omit; to decline, refuse, reject; to avoid, escape; to cease, desist; to evade, neglect; to contradict, refute; to depart, leave; to become detached, separate”) [and other forms], from Old English forsacan (“to oppose; to give up, renounce; to decline, refuse”), from Proto-West Germanic *frasakan (“to forsake, renounce”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (prefix meaning ‘away, off’) + *sakan? (“to charge; to dispute”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh?g- (“to seek out”)). The English word can be analysed as for- +? sake, and is cognate with Saterland Frisian ferseeke (“to deny, refuse”), West Frisian fersaakje, Dutch verzaken (“to renounce, forsake”), Middle High German versachen (“to deny”), Danish forsage (“to give up”), Swedish försaka (“to be without, give up”), Norwegian forsake (“to give up, renounce”), Gothic ???????????????????? (sakan, “to quarrel; to rebuke”), .

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f???se?k/, /f?-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f???se?k/
• Rhymes: -e?k
• Hyphenation: for?sake

Verb

forsake (third-person singular simple present forsakes, present participle forsaking, simple past forsook, past participle forsaken)

1. (transitive) To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something).
2. (transitive, obsolete) To decline or refuse (something offered).
3. (transitive, obsolete) To avoid or shun (someone or something).
4. (transitive, obsolete) To cause disappointment to; to be insufficient for (someone or something).

Conjugation

• Archaic second-person singular simple present form: forsakest
• Archaic third-person singular simple present indicative form: forsaketh

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• forsake in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• forsake in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• freakos

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• forsage

Etymology

Borrowed from Low German vorsaken, from Old Saxon farsakan, from Proto-West Germanic *frasakan (“to forsake, renounce”).

Verb

forsake (imperative forsak, present tense forsaker, simple past and past participle forsaka or forsaket, present participle forsakende)

1. to give up, relinquish, forsake
2. to denounce (the devil)

Derived terms

• forsakelse

References

• “forsake” in The Bokmål Dictionary.