different between foremost vs fore

English

Etymology

From Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”), from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz, from the locative stem *fur-, *fr- + the superlative suffix *-umistaz, stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr-. The suffix *-umistaz was a compound suffix, created from the rarer comparative suffix *-umô (as in Old English fruma) + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.

Cognate with Old Frisian formest, Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (frumists). See for, first and Old English fruma for more. Partially cognate to primus, from Proto-Indo-European *pr- + Latin superlative suffix -imus, from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.

A comparative former was back-formed analogically, leaving the m from *-umô in place. Later the Old English suffix complex -(u)m-est was conflated with the word most through folk etymology, so that the word is now interpreted as fore +? -most.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f??.m??st/
• Rhymes: -??st

Adjective

foremost (not comparable)

1. first, either in time or in space
2. Most forward; front
3. of a higher rank or position; paramount
4. (nautical) closest to the bow

Translations

Adverb

foremost (not comparable)

1. in front
2. prominently forward
3. especially; particularly
   • 2001, Chantel Laran Sawyer Lumpkin, The Influences of Assets on the Academic Achievement of African American College Students, p. 155:

     As dependent minors the foremost proximal system was family, followed by school and community.

   • 2013, Robert Woods, Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture: Pop Goes the Gospel, p. XXIX:

     Lewis is the twentieth century's foremost popular writer and the most influential public intellectual for evangelicals.

   • 2019, Louise Taylor, Alex Morgan heads USA past England into Women’s World Cup final (in The Guardian, 2 July 2019)[1]

     England head to Nice for Saturday’s third-place playoff after yet more semi-final disappointment but with heads held high having played their part in a wonderful game featuring some particularly harsh luck. Foremost among it was the marginal offside which saw an Ellen White goal disallowed and, later, a penalty miss by Steph Houghton.

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /fo(?)?/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /fo?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophones: four, for (in accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Etymology

A development of the prefix fore-.

Adjective

fore (comparative former, superlative foremost)

1. (obsolete) Former; occurring earlier (in some order); previous. [15th-18th c.]

2. Forward; situated towards the front (of something). [from 16th c.]
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 23:

     Crystal vases with crimson roses and golden-brown asters were set here and there in the fore part of the shop […]

Antonyms

• (order): latter
• (location): aft

Translations

Interjection

fore

1. (golf) An exclamation yelled to inform players a ball is moving in their direction.

Translations

Noun

fore (uncountable)

1. The front; the forward part of something; the foreground.
   • 2002, Mark Bevir, The Logic of the History of Ideas:

     People face a dilemma whenever they bring to the fore an understanding that appears inadequate in the light of the other beliefs they bring to bear on it.

Related terms

• fore-and-aft
• foremost
• forehead

Translations

Adverb

fore (not comparable)

1. In the part that precedes or goes first; opposed to aft, after, back, behind, etc.
2. (obsolete) Formerly; previously; afore.
3. (nautical) In or towards the bows of a ship.

Anagrams

• Freo, OFer, froe, o-fer, ofer, orfe

Cornish

Noun

fore

1. Mixed mutation of bore.

Esperanto

Etymology

for +? -e

Adverb

fore

1. far away

French

Verb

fore

1. first-person singular present indicative of forer
2. third-person singular present indicative of forer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of forer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of forer
5. second-person singular imperative of forer

Ido

Etymology

for +? -e

Adverb

fore

1. (far) away, afar

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?fo.re/, [?f???]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?fo.re/, [?f????]

Etymology 1

See foris.

Noun

fore

1. ablative singular of foris

Etymology 2

Formally present active infinitive corresponding to fu? (“I have been”), irregular perfect indicative of sum (“I am”). From Proto-Indo-European *b?uH- (“to become, be”), cognate with Old English b?o (“I become, I will be, I am”). In classical Latin, the fu- forms of sum are mostly limited to the perfect tenses, but old Latin has alternate present and imperfect subjunctive forms fuam and forem (for classical sim and essem) suggesting the root could once be fully conjugated. After being incorporated in the conjugation of sum, the meaning of fore shifted from the original "to become" to the classical "to be going to be".

Alternative forms

• fut?rus esse

Verb

fore

1. future active infinitive of sum

Usage notes

• Also used in the construction fore ut in place of a future passive infinitive in indirect discourse:

References

• fore in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• fore in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fore in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• fore in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Middle English

Noun

fore

1. fore

Descendants

• Scots: fore
• English: fore

Numeral

fore

1. four

Conjunction

fore

1. therefore

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• fóre

Noun

fore f (definite singular fora, indefinite plural forer, definite plural forene)

1. behaviour
2. footprints, tracks
3. (economics) ability, standing

Etymology 2

Derived from for (“travel”), from Old Norse f?r, but made a weak noun. From earlier Proto-Germanic *far?.

Alternative forms

• fòre

Noun

fore f (definite singular fora, indefinite plural forer, definite plural forene)

1. alternative form of for

Etymology 3

From fòr (“furrow”).

Alternative forms

• fora, fòra, fòre

Verb

fore (present tense forar, past tense fora, past participle fora, passive infinitive forast, present participle forande, imperative for)

1. to furrow

Etymology 4

Inherited from Old Norse fóðra.

Alternative forms

• fora, fôra, fôre

Verb

fore (present tense forar, past tense fora, past participle fora, passive infinitive forast, present participle forande, imperative for)

1. to fodder animals
   1. to breed, raise
2. to gather food, fodder
3. to feed

Related terms

• fôr n (“fodder”)

Etymology 5

Made from fôr (“lining of clothes”)

Alternative forms

• fora, fôra, fôre

Verb

fore (present tense forar, past tense fora, past participle fora, passive infinitive forast, present participle forande, imperative for)

1. (transitive) to line (clothes)
2. (transitive) to clad with covering layers

Etymology 6

See the etymology of the main entry.

Adjective

fore

1. inflection of for:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

References

• “fore” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Verb

fore

1. past subjunctive of fara

Anagrams

• efor

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /?v?r?/
  • (North Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /?v?ra/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /?vo?r?/, /?v?r?/

Noun

fore

1. Soft mutation of bore (“morning”).

Mutation