Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

forswallow

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
for-swal-low
IPA
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To swallow up; devour utterly; engulf.

Obsolete; Transitive verb

Etymology

From Middle English forswolewen, forswoluwen, forswolȝen, forswalȝen, forswelȝen, from Old English forswelgan, forswilgan (“to swallow up, devour, consume, absorb”), from Proto-Germanic *farswelganą, *fraswelganą (“to devour”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- + *swelganą (“to swallow”), equivalent to for- + swallow. Cognate with Dutch verzwelgen (“to engulf, swallow up”), Middle Low German vorswelgen (“to swallow up”), Middle High German verswelgen (“to swallow up”). More at for-, swallow.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Prefix: for
  • Root: forswolewen, forswelgan, *farswelganą, *fra-

Usage

Inflected Forms

forswallows (present, singular) forswallowing (participle, present) forswallowed (participle, past) forswallowed (past)

Questions

What does forswallow mean?
To swallow up; devour utterly; engulf.
Where does forswallow come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce forswallow

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  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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  4. Repeat and practice — Say “forswallow” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.