Forweren

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Utterly worn out and exhausted, as though wearied beyond all endurance by long hardship or toil
2. Describing someone who has been tired out completely, drained of strength by hard labour over a long time
3. Reduced to a state of total weariness and fatigue, having been exhausted by prolonged effort or suffering

Etymology: "Forweren" is a Middle English past participle meaning utterly worn out or exhausted. Its prefix, for-, is an intensifier, as in "forlorn" (completely lost) and "forswear" (to renounce utterly), so the sense is of being worn down thoroughly rather than merely tired. The verb behind it was most likely formed on an Old English base related to "wērig," "weary," with the intensifying for- added. Its exact development is uncertain, but the pattern is clear: a plain verb of wearing or tiring became a stronger one by adding for-. The participle would have been used as an adjective, describing a person or animal drained by hard travel, labour, or illness. Because it survived only in older texts, it is now recognized mainly from Middle English writing.