foreman

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English forman, also foreman,^[2][3] formed from English fore- + man.^{[3][4][5][2][6]} Similar compounds are Dutch voorman, German Vormann and Danish formand.^[4][5] The OED compares Old Norse formaðr (“leader”) and thinks it perhaps the source;^[5] the Shorter Oxford suggests that the English word was modelled on the Norse one or taken directly from the Dutch,^[6] and the Oxford Dictionary of English that it was perhaps suggested by the Dutch word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barnhart records forman from 1222,^[3][8] and Etymonline dates the sense "a leader" to the early 13th century.^[4] The Shorter Oxford gives "chief servant, steward, overseer" as the first, Middle English sense.^[6][9] The OED's first record, for one who goes in front, a leader, is from about 1425, in the English Conquest of Ireland.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense of the man in front, also of the front rank of soldiers, died out in the 17th century.^[5][6] From 1538 the foreman of a jury was the juror who presides over its deliberations and gives its verdict to the court;^[5][4] Weekley notes that this sense is recorded before that of head workman.^[10] The principal workman, in charge of others, appears in 1574,^[5][4][6] and in 1774 John Adams used the word for an overseer on a farm.^[5][6] From 1603 it also meant the chief person of a party or assembly, now obsolete except as a title of some municipal officers.^[5][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "the first or chief person" and quoted Addison on a man who had several times been foreman of the petty jury.^[11] In slang it was used once, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Philaster (1622), apparently for a goose,^[5][12] and later for the penis.^[4][12] The feminine forewoman is recorded from 1709, first of a jury, and forelady from 1867.^[4] The verb, to oversee as a foreman, is from 1886.^[5][2]

Timeline

• 1222 – forman.^[3]
• c. 1425 – one who goes in front, a leader (obsolete by 1674).^[5]
• 1538 – the presiding juror of a jury.^[5][4]
• 1574 – the principal workman, in charge of others.^[5][4]
• 1603 – the chief person of a party or assembly.^[5]
• 1622 – slang, apparently a goose.^[5][12]
• 1709 – forewoman, of a jury.^[4]
• 1774 – an overseer or bailiff.^[5]
• 1886 – verb, to oversee as a foreman.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A worker who supervises and leads a group or crew of workers, or a department of work: The site foreman checked the scaffolding each morning.^[2][5][6]
2. The member of a jury who presides over its deliberations and speaks for it in court.^[2][5][6]
3. (obsolete, c. 1425–1674) One who goes in front; a leader.^[5][2][6]

Verb

1. To oversee or direct as a foreman.^[2][5]

Word family

• foremanship
• subforeman

Related words

• foreperson
• forewoman
• fore-
• man
• forelady

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com