Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb Forward in time, place, or order; onward.
  • adverb Out into view.
  • adverb Obsolete Away from a specified place; abroad.
  • preposition Out of; forth from.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Forward; onward or outward into space; out from concealment or inaction.
  • Onward in time or order, in progression or series: as, from that day forth; one, two, four, eight, and so forth (see below).
  • Forward or out, as by development or unfolding; into view or consideration: as, plants put forth leaves and send forth shoots in spring; to bring forth sound arguments.
  • Away, as from a place or country; out; abroad: now always followed by from, but formerly sometimes used absolutely or followed by of: as, to go forth from one's home; to send a traitor forth from his country.
  • Thoroughly; from beginning to end.
  • [Forth was formerly used intensively to strengthen some adverbs and prepositions, without real addition of meaning: as, far-forth, beneath-forth, within-forth, with-forth.]
  • See the verbs.
  • Out of; forth from.
  • To forward; further; accomplish.
  • noun A common Middle English form of ford.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A way; a passage or ford.
  • preposition Archaic Forth from; out of.
  • verb Forward; onward in time, place, or order; in advance from a given point; on to end
  • verb Out, as from a state of concealment, retirement, confinement, nondevelopment, or the like; out into notice or view.
  • verb Beyond a (certain) boundary; away; abroad; out.
  • verb obsolete Throughly; from beginning to end.
  • verb See under And, Back, and From.
  • verb [Obs.] out of.
  • verb See under Bring.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb Forward in time, place or degree.
  • adverb Out into view.
  • adverb obsolete From a particular place or position.
  • adjective Common misspelling of fourth.
  • noun Common misspelling of fourth.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb forward in time or order or degree
  • adverb out into view
  • adverb from a particular thing or place or position (`forth' is obsolete)
  • noun a river in southern Scotland that flows eastward to the Firth of Forth

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English; see per in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English forþ.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From fourth - compare forty

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Examples

  • "As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it (_the earth_) bring forth and bud (_not first bud, bear seed, and then bring forth_), that it (_the earth_) may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater (_man being the only sower of seed and eater of bread_): so shall my Word be (_the Word of

    Life: Its True Genesis R. W. Wright

  • So when this came along, I put her name forth immediately.

    NYT > Global Home By ALEX WITCHEL 2011

  • There is, then, a body symbolism, an idiom of individual appearances and gestures that tends to call forth in the actor what it calls forth in the others, the others drawn from those, and only those, who are immediately present.1

    Behavior in Public Places ERVING GOFFMAN 1963

  • We are old enough to remember its first appearance; the eager curiosity and keen discussion which it awakened; the criticism which it called forth; and, above all, the animated delight with which it was received by all who were young or not critical.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 51, January, 1862 Various

  • What music can give is the emotional mood which it calls forth, and which may be common to many objects very different in their external character.

    Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde"; an essay on the Wagnerian drama George Ainslie Hight

  • If nursing practice is viewed as the implementation of scientific facts and what they call forth in the nursing situation related to man's condition of existence, is a heuristic science of nursing developed from this situation, by nurses, an appropriate practical professional aim?

    Humanistic Nursing Josephine G. Paterson

  • Phrases are often repeated in the ballads, just as in the talk of the common man, for the sake of emphasis, but there is neither complexity of plot or characterization nor attempt at decorative literary adornment -- the story and the emotion which it calls forth are all in all.

    A History of English Literature Robert Huntington Fletcher

  • Yet—such was the peculiar character of the man, and such the intensity of the feelings which he called forth—at this very moment, at the height of his popularity, he was distrusted and loathed; already an unparalleled animosity was gathering its forces against him.

    The End of General Gordon: Paras. 31-66 1918

  • This, notwithstanding the dash of falsehood which may exist in “Werter” itself, and the boundless delirium of extravagance which it called forth in others, is a high praise which cannot justly be denied it.

    Criticism and Interpretation. By Thomas Carlyle 1917

  • The nerve vibrations are there, certainly, but they get no further than the nerves, because the corresponding vibrations of the spirit which they call forth are too weak.

    Concerning the Spiritual in Art Wassily Kandinsky 1905

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