Past tense of 'forbar,' an archaic form meaning to bar or block something beforehand.
From Old English 'forberan,' combining 'for-' (before/completely) with 'barred' (blocked). This prefix intensified the meaning of 'bar' in Middle English.
The 'for-' prefix was super productive in Old English, used to create verbs meaning 'beforehand' or 'completely'—it's why we still have 'forbear' and 'forbid' today, where it transforms ordinary verbs into something more emphatic.
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