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Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2001 02:00:01 -0800 (PST)
From: word@m-w.com
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Subject: forfend: M-W's Word of the Day
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The Word of the Day for December 29 is:

forfend   \for-FEND\   (verb)
    *1 : to ward off : prevent
     2 : protect : preserve

Example sentence:
     My roommate claims the best way to forfend a nasty cold is
to chew garlic.

Did you know?
     "You certainly won't find me running a marathon, paddling
the Volga, or, heaven forfend, singing opera," wrote _Boston
Globe_ staff writer Scot Lehigh in the February 25, 2001 edition
of that paper, using an old meaning of "forfend" in the process.
English speakers have been using "forfend" with the meanings "to
forbid" or "to prevent" since the late 14th century, but these
days we only use the "forbid" sense when we use it, as Lehigh
did, in the phrase "heaven forfend." "Forfend" comes from "for-"
(an old prefix meaning "so as to involve prohibition, exclusion,
omission, failure, neglect, or refusal") and Middle English
"fenden" (a shorter variant of "defenden," meaning "to defend").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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