Link Centre Dictionary

forbid

for·bid

UK/fəˈbɪd/ US/fəˈbɪd/ common

verb

1.

command against

  • “I forbid you to call me late at night”
  • “Mother vetoed the trip to the chocolate store”
Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

keep from happening or arising; have the effect of preventing

  • “My sense of tact forbids an honest answer”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English forbeden, from Old English forbēodan (“to forbid, prohibit, restrain, refuse, repeal, annul”), from Proto-Germanic *furibeudaną, from *furi + *beudaną. Equivalent to for- (“from, away”) + bid (“to offer, proclaim”). Cognate with Dutch verbieden (“to forbid”), German verbieten (“to forbid”), Danish forbyde (“to forbid”), Norwegian Bokmål forby (“to forbid”), Swedish förbjuda (“to forbid”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (faurbiudan). Related to forbode.

Phrases

  • God forbid
  • Goddess forbid
  • heaven forbid

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.