Forfeit

How to spell forfeit

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce forfeit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does forfeit mean?

1. verbTo lose or have to give up something as a penalty for a fault, breach, or failure to meet a condition.
2. nounSomething lost or given up as a penalty, or the act of losing it.

Forfeit in a sentence

• verb

  If you cancel late, you forfeit the entire deposit.

• noun

  The contract listed a steep forfeit for failing to deliver on time.

• verb

  Players who miss the registration deadline forfeit their place in the tournament.

• noun

  Missing three meetings resulted in the forfeit of her committee seat.

Where does forfeit come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English around 1300 from the Old French forfait, the past participle of forfaire, meaning 'to transgress' or 'to commit a crime'. That verb was built from for-, which traces to the Latin foris meaning 'outside' or 'beyond' (the sense of acting beyond the law), joined to faire, from the Latin facere meaning 'to do' or 'to make'. The literal idea was therefore 'a misdeed done beyond what is permitted', and the earliest English uses described a crime or transgression itself before the meaning shifted to the penalty paid for it, namely the loss of a right, possession, or sum. The same facere root sits inside a huge family of everyday words such as 'factory', 'manufacture', and 'affect', which can help anchor the unexpected '-feit' spelling. That French-borrowed ending is the real trap: the word is pronounced 'for-fit' yet the letters run 'fei', flouting the usual 'i before e' habit, which is why so many writers misspell it.

How the word is built

• for- (from Latin foris: beyond, wrongly)
• feit (from Latin facere: to do, make)