Forpinen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Wasted away or tormented by long suffering, grief, or pain, as an archaic past participle of forpine
2. Afflicted and worn down by prolonged anguish, sorrow, or torment in an old-fashioned literary sense
3. Left wasting away from extended pain or distress, a rare archaic description of someone who has languished

Etymology: "Forpinen" is the past participle of the Middle English verb "forpinen," from Old English "forpīnan," meaning to torment severely or put to torture. The prefix "for-" intensified the verb, and its base, "pīnan," was borrowed into Old English from Latin "poena," meaning punishment. That same Latin source gave modern English "pain," by way of Old French "peine." Because the verb described torment that wore a person down, the participle came to mean someone reduced to a wasted state by long suffering. It was never common, and it is now almost entirely archaic.