forge English · revision 39634

+ English has two main verbs spelled ''forge'': the smith's word, which also gave the noun, and a nautical verb meaning to move ahead, of unknown origin.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /fɔːd͡ʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /fɔɹd͡ʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|smithy; to shape, counterfeit}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1330, R. Mannyng, Chronicle|origins=la faber}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The smith's word is [[inh|enm|forgen]], [[bor|fro|forgier]] (modern [[m|fr|forger]]),^(OED 2026)^(MED)^(SOED 2002) from [[la|fabricō|t=to frame, construct, build]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) itself from [[m|la|fabrica|t=workshop, trade, manufactured object]].^(Etymonline)^(ODE 2010) The noun is Middle English [[m|enm|forge]], from [[m|fro|forge]], earlier [[m|fro|faverge]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) which continues a Common Romance form [[m|la-vul|*faurga]], from the same ''fabrica'',^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(Hoad 1986) a derivative of [[m|la|faber|t=a worker in hard materials, a smith]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Barnhart connects ''faber'' with [[ang|gedafen|t=fitting]] and a root [[ine-pro|*dʰabʰ-]],^(Barnhart 1988) and Merriam-Webster also refers it to the family of [[daft]].^(MWU 2024) The word is thus a doublet of [[fabric]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To make something in fraudulent imitation of something else: c. 1330, in Robert Mannyng's ''Chronicle'', the earliest sense the OED records;^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates the counterfeiting sense to before 1325, and the general sense, to make or shape, to about 1350.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb to make or construct a material thing is found from 1382, in the early Wycliffite Bible.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English the verb covered all making, especially smith's work: to shape metal by heating and hammering (c. 1400), to coin money, to work at the forge (1382).^(OED 2026)^(MED) Chaucer used it in all these ways and also for inventing a story, and the sense of fabricating a lie or a false tale is found in his ''Parson's Tale'' (c. 1386).^(OED 2026)^(GCME) Ayto describes the sense of faking as a purely English development, since the related words in other languages mean simply to make;^(Ayto 2005) Barnhart instead thinks it was influenced by Anglo-French ''forger'', to falsify, and Etymonline gives "falsify" among the senses of the Old French verb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The specific modern sense of counterfeiting a document or a signature is recorded from 1535, and the intransitive "to commit forgery" from Shakespeare.^(OED 2026) The noun meant manufacture or workmanship in Gower (1390), then a smithy, in Chaucer's ''Miller's Tale'' (c. 1405), the smith's hearth with its bellows (1481) and a furnace for refining metal (1601).^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) noted that ''forge'' was used for large work and ''smithy'' for small, though writers did not keep the distinction.^(Johnson 1755) The figurative use, to forge an alliance or a bond, continues the old sense "to make, fashion".^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1330 – to counterfeit.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1382 – to make or construct; to do smith's work.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1386 – to invent a false story.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1390 – noun, manufacture, workmanship (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1400 – to shape metal by heating and hammering.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1405 – noun, a smithy.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1481 – noun, a smith's hearth with bellows.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1535 – to imitate fraudulently, as a signature.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1601 – noun, a furnace for refining metal.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[blacksmith]]'s workshop; a [[smithy]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A [[hearth]] or [[furnace]] in which metal is heated before it is worked.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A works where metal is shaped by hammering or pressing.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To shape [[metal]] by heating and hammering, or with a press.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To make or create something with effort, especially a relationship or an agreement: ''The two towns forged a lasting partnership.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To make a fraudulent copy of a document, signature or banknote; to [[counterfeit]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[forger]]

+ * [[forgery]]

+ * [[forging]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|move ahead}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1769, W. Falconer, Universal Dictionary of the Marine}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb of moving ahead is of unknown origin.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) Hoad and the Shorter Oxford suggest that it is a corrupt pronunciation of [[force]], used in the same way from the 17th century;^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) the OED notes this conjecture, and another that it is a transferred use of [[forge#1]], alluding to the effect of repeated blows of a hammer, which Barnhart and Etymonline also mention.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a ship, to make headway, especially by momentum or by the pressure of the tide: 1769, in William Falconer's ''Universal Dictionary of the Marine''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster dates it to 1611, and Barnhart and Etymonline note an apparently isolated, figurative use of the 1610s.^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline describes it as originally and properly a nautical word,^(Etymonline) transitive in nautical use from 1815.^(OED 2026) It spread to other movement, especially in ''forge ahead'', to take the lead in a race or to move forward fast,^(SOED 2002) and in the late 19th century to making one's way gradually and steadily.^(SOED 2002) Merriam-Webster also has the figurative sense, to progress or advance.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1611 – Merriam-Webster's first date.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1769 – of a ship, to make headway.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1815 – (nautical) transitive use.^(OED 2026)

+ * late 19th century – to make one's way gradually.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move forward steadily, especially against difficulty or by [[momentum]]: ''The ship forged on through the swell.''^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To move ahead suddenly and with increased speed, especially in ''forge ahead'': ''In the last lap she forged into the lead.''^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To make steady [[progress]]: ''The firm forged ahead with its plans.''^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fabric]]

+ * [[fabricate]]

+ * [[force]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third verb, of a horse, to strike the shoe of a fore foot with a hind foot, is recorded from 1843 and may be the smith's word, with reference to the sound.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The English Dialect Dictionary records this use in Worcestershire, where it was also pronounced ''farge'', and in Devon.^(Wright 1898) In Caithness ''forge'' was also a schoolchildren's word for copying another's work and passing it off as one's own.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}