forfeit
Syllables: for·feitUK/ˈfɔː.fɪt//ˈfɔɹ.fɪt/
forfeit noun: a penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
Noun
forfeit (countable and uncountable, plural forfeits)
- A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
- That he our deadly forfeit should release1629, John Milton, On the Morning of Christ's Nativity
- A thing forfeited; that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed; that which is lost, or the right to which is alienated, by a crime, breach of contract, etc.
- He who murders pays the forfeit of his own life.
- Thy slanders I forgive; and therewithal / Remit thy other forfeits.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.
- Country dances and forfeits shortened the rest of the day.1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC
- Injury; wrong; mischief.
- a. 1789, Barry St. Leger, Siege of Nicopolis
to seek arms upon people and country that never did us any forfeit
- a. 1789, Barry St. Leger, Siege of Nicopolis
Verb
forfeit (third-person singular simple present forfeits, present participle forfeiting, simple past and past participle forfeited or (rare) forfeit)
- To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance
- He forfeited his last chance of an early release from jail by repeatedly attacking another inmate.
- To lose a contest, game, match, or other form of competition by voluntary withdrawal, by failing to attend or participate, or by violation of the rules
- Because only nine players were present, the football team was forced to forfeit the game.
- Synonyms:
- capitulate, surrender, disqualify, forgo, withgo
- To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.
- To fail to keep an obligation.
- I will have the heart of him if he forfeit.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Of government officials: to legally remove property from its previous owners.
- After the raid on USPV, Plaintiffs filed claims with the FBI seeking return of their seized property. The government did not return the property in response to these claims; instead, it indicated that it was seeking to forfeit the property.2024 January 23, Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr., Snitko v. United States, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2024
Adjective
forfeit (not comparable)
- Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.
- to tread the forfeit paradise1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, May-Day
forfeit meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
forfeit in Tamil
- to suffer the loss
- இழ iḻa
forfeit in Urdu
- ہرجانہ, جرمانہ, ضبطی, حق کھو دینا
forfeit in Bengali
- শাস্তি, জরিমানা, শোধপাওনা, বাজেয়াপ্ত সম্পদ, অধিকারচ্যুতি, ক্ষতি
forfeit in Malayalam
- surrender, lose, be deprived of
- അവകാശം ഇല്ലാതാകുക, നഷ്ടമാകുക, അവകാശം ഇല്ലാതെയാവുക, നഷ്ടപ്പെടുത്തുക, നഷ്ടപ്പെടുത്തപ്പെടുക, പിഴയായി കൊടുക്കുക
- punishment, penalty, sanction
- കണ്ടുകെട്ടൽ, കണ്ടുകെട്ട്, ധനദണ്ഡം, അർത്ഥദണ്ഡം, ശിക്ഷയുടെ ഭാഗമായി അവകാശങ്ങൾ നിർത്തലാക്കൽ, അടിയറ
More languagesFewer languages
- forfeit in Punjabi
- ਜ਼ਬਤ zabat, ਬਾਜ਼ੀ bāzī
- forfeit in Persian
- جزا jazâ, از دست دادن az dast dâdan
Examples of forfeit in a sentence
- I forfeited my inheritance and married outside my parents' faith.
- O, Life, pack up your plushen ploys — I'll forfeit all for my four boys!
- Companies “are increasingly covering more complicated forms of compensation that executives forfeited from prior jobs,” says Hodgson.
Synonyms of forfeit
Forms of forfeit
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | forfeits |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | forfeits |
| present participle | forfeiting |
| past participle | forfeited |
| past | forfeited |
| past participle (rare) | forfeit |
| past (rare) | forfeit |
Origin of forfeit
From Middle English forfait from ca. 1300, from Old French forfait (“crime”), originally the past participle of forfaire (“to transgress”), and Medieval Latin foris factum. During the 15th century, the sense shifted from the crime to the penalty for the crime.
Words formed from forfeit
Questions about forfeit
- What does forfeit mean?
- Forfeit means a penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
- What is forfeit in Tamil?
- Forfeit in Tamil is இழ (iḻa). See Forfeit meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is forfeit?
- Forfeit can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce forfeit?
- Forfeit is pronounced /ˈfɔː.fɪt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of forfeit?
- The plural of forfeit is forfeits.
Words near forfeit in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: forfeit (page history and authors); forfeit (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); forfeit (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); forfeit (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); ਜ਼ਬਤ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-forfeit.ogg.
Cite this entry: “forfeit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forfeit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.