forget

See also: Forget

English

Etymology

From Middle English forgeten, forgiten, forȝeten, forȝiten, from Old English forġietan (“to forget”) [influenced by Old Norse geta ("to get, to guess")], from Proto-Germanic *fragetaną (“to give up, forget”). Equivalent to for- +‎ get.

Cognate with Scots forget, forȝet (“to forget”), West Frisian fergette, ferjitte, forjitte (“to forget”), Dutch vergeten (“to forget”), German vergessen (“to forget”), Swedish förgäta (“to forget”).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fəˈɡɛt/,[1] (less commonly:) /fɔːˈɡɛt/
  • Audio (RP, ‘to forget’)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /fɚˈɡɛt/,[2][3][4] (less commonly:) /fɔɹˈɡɛt/[2][3][4]
  • Audio (GA)(file)
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛt
  • Hyphenation: for‧get

Verb

forget (third-person singular simple present forgets, present participle forgetting, simple past forgot or (archaic) forgat, past participle forgotten or (rare) forgot)

  1. (transitive) To lose remembrance of.
    I have forgotten most of the things I learned in school.
    • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
      For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.
  2. (transitive) To unintentionally not do, neglect.
    I forgot to buy flowers for my wife at our 14th wedding anniversary.
  3. (transitive) To unintentionally leave something behind.
    I forgot my car keys.
  4. (intransitive) To cease remembering.
    Let's just forget about it.
  5. (slang) euphemism for fuck, screw (a mild oath).
    Forget you!

Usage notes
  • In sense 1 and 4 this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing).
  • In sense 2 this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive.
  • See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms
Terms derived from forget

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

References
  • forget in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
  • forget in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  1. “forget” in the Collins English Dictionary, Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers.
  2. “forget” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
  3. “forget” in the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  4. “forget” in Michael Agnes, editor-in-chief, Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th edition, Cleveland, Oh.: Wiley, 2010, →ISBN; reproduced on the Collins English Dictionary, Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers.
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