Forpines

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Gradually wastes away and becomes weak or withered through severe suffering, sorrow, or long hardship
2. Languishes until completely worn down, as a person does when consumed by grief or pain over a long period
3. Wears away physically and spiritually under prolonged torment, sorrow, or deprivation until little strength remains

Etymology: "Forpines" is the third-person singular form of "forpine," a verb meaning to waste away or torment greatly. The verb comes from Middle English "forpinen," built from the intensifying prefix "for-" and "pine," the familiar word for suffering or languishing. The prefix "for-" in this sense intensifies or completes the action, so "forpine" carries the idea of pining thoroughly, to the point of exhaustion or destruction. The verb has a cognate in Middle Low German, "vorpinen," which means the same thing. That shared form across the two languages points to a common Germanic inheritance, with both branches keeping the same pairing of the intensifying prefix and the verb for torment.

Synonyms: languishes, wastes away, pines