Forsaying

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic term for refusing or prohibiting something, or formally giving up a claim, belief or practice
2. Old-fashioned wording describing the act of forbidding a thing or solemnly disowning and abjuring it
3. Archaic usage meaning the act of prohibiting something outright or renouncing it under oath or formal declaration

Etymology: "Forsaying" is a participle of "forsay," a verb that once meant nearly the opposite of what we hear in its ordinary sense. Its Old English ancestor, "forseċġan," meant to accuse, to slander, or to speak about someone at length, and the sense of renouncing or refusing came later in Middle English. Note that the "for-" here is not the familiar prefix meaning "away" or "not" that we see in "forget" or "forgo"; it is an intensifying or negating element that tends to turn a verb toward denial or rejection. The cognates show how far the idea travelled across the Germanic languages. Dutch "verzeggen" and German "versagen" both carry the sense of refusing or denying, and German "versagen" has gone on to mean failing or breaking down. Swedish "försäga" keeps a slightly different shade, meaning to misspeak or say too much, which suggests the old notion of speaking in a way that goes wrong.