Forspeak

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To speak against or contradict someone ; to arrange or speak on behalf of someone in advance
2. To voice opposition to something ; to discuss or agree upon a matter before it occurs
3. To argue against or gainsay ; to settle or negotiate something beforehand through speech

Etymology: Forspeak comes from the Old English "forspecan" and its variant "forsprecan", which meant to speak in vain, to speak amiss, to denounce, or to deny. The prefix "for-" carries the sense of "away" or "amiss" here, so the core idea is speaking in a way that goes wrong or does harm. Over time the harm became magical. In Middle English, "forspeken" meant to bewitch, so a word that once described careless or wrongful speech came to describe casting a spell through words. The verb's meaning narrowed from ordinary speech that goes astray to a specific kind of enchantment.