different between forfeit vs disadvantage

English

Etymology

Middle English forfait from ca. 1300, from Old French forfait (“crime”), originally the past participle of forfaire (“to transgress”), and Medieval Latin foris factum. During the 15th century, the sense shifted from the crime to the penalty for the crime.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f??.f?t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?f??.f?t/
• Rhymes: -??(?)f?t

Noun

forfeit (countable and uncountable, plural forfeits)

1. A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
   • 1629, John Milton, On the Morning of Christ's Nativity

     That he our deadly forfeit should release

2. A thing forfeited; that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed; that which is lost, or the right to which is alienated, by a crime, breach of contract, etc.

   He who murders pays the forfeit of his own life.
3. Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.

   • Country dances and forfeits shortened the rest of the day.

4. (obsolete, rare) Injury; wrong; mischief.
   • a. 1789, Barry St. Leger, Siege of Nicopolis

     to seek arms upon people and country that never did us any forfeit

Translations

Verb

forfeit (third-person singular simple present forfeits, present participle forfeiting, simple past and past participle forfeited or (rare) forfeit)

1. To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance

   He forfeited his last chance of an early release from jail by repeatedly attacking another inmate.

2. To lose a contest, game, match, or other form of competition by voluntary withdrawal, by failing to attend or participate, or by violation of the rules

   Because only nine players were present, the football team was forced to forfeit the game.

3. To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.
4. To fail to keep an obligation.

Synonyms

• (lose a contest): capitulate, surrender, disqualify
• (voluntarily give up): forgo, withgo

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

forfeit (not comparable)

1. Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.
   • 1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, May-Day

     to tread the forfeit paradise

Anagrams

• toffier

English

Alternative forms

• disadvauntage (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English disavauntage, from Old French desavantage.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: d?s'?d-vän't?j, IPA^(key): /?d?s?d?v??nt?d?/
• (General American) enPR: d?s'?d-v?n't?j, IPA^(key): /?d?s?d?vænt?d?/

Noun

disadvantage (plural disadvantages)

1. A weakness or undesirable characteristic; a con.
2. A setback or handicap.

   My height is a disadvantage for reaching high shelves.

   • 1774, Edmund Burke, speech to the electors of Bristol

     I was brought hither under the disadvantage of being unknown, even by sight, to any of you.

   • 1859-1890, John G. Palfrey, History of New England to the Revolutionary War

     Abandoned by their great patron, the faction henceforward acted at disadvantage.

3. Loss; detriment; hindrance.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     They would throw a construction on his conduct, to his disadvantage before the public.

Synonyms

• (an undesirable characteristic): afterdeal, con, drawback, malefit, downside
• (a handicap): afterdeal, weakness

Antonyms

• advantage

Translations

Verb

disadvantage (third-person singular simple present disadvantages, present participle disadvantaging, simple past and past participle disadvantaged)

1. (transitive) To place at a disadvantage.

   They fear it might disadvantage honest participants to allow automated entries.

   • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, "London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):

     For London to have its own exclusive immigration policy would exacerbate the sense that immigration benefits only certain groups and disadvantages the rest. It would entrench the gap between London and the rest of the nation. And it would widen the breach between the public and the elite that has helped fuel anti-immigrant hostility.

Synonyms

• tell against

Derived terms

• disadvantageous
• disadvantageously
• disadvantageousness