Forpining

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Wasting away gradually from intense grief, hunger, or affliction, as an archaic form of pining
2. Growing weak and wretched through prolonged sorrow or torment, slowly losing strength and health
3. Suffering a long, drawn-out decline in body and spirit caused by hardship, longing, or distress

Etymology: "Forpining" is the present participle of "forpine," a verb meaning to waste away slowly through suffering or longing. The verb came into English in Middle English as "forpinen," built from the prefix "for-" and the verb "pine." The prefix is the intensifying or destructive "for-" found in older English words such as "forlorn" and "forgo," and it gives "forpine" the sense of pining away completely rather than merely pining. The verb has a close relative in Middle Low German, "vorpinen," which means the same thing, so the word was shared among related Germanic languages rather than being an English invention alone. The base "pine" is the more familiar of the two, and its own story is one of suffering, since it came from Old English "pīnian" and carried the sense of torment before it came to mean slow decline.

Synonyms: languishing, pining, wasting away