forby meaning (archaic): definition, etymology and quotations

forby

adj

UK /fəˈbʌɪ/

Etymology From Middle English forby, forbi, of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, equivalent to fore- + by. Compare Saterland Frisian foarbie (“beyond, past”), West Frisian foarby (“over, beyond, past”), Dutch voorbij (“beyond, past”), Low German vörbi, vörbie (“over, up, gone, finished, past”), German vorbei (“over, gone, past”), Danish forbi, Swedish förbi. More at fore, by.

1

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal Uncommon; out of the ordinary; extraordinary; superior.

He's a forbye man.

Derived terms: forbyland

forby

adv

Etymology From Middle English forby, forbi, of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, equivalent to fore- + by. Compare Saterland Frisian foarbie (“beyond, past”), West Frisian foarby (“over, beyond, past”), Dutch voorbij (“beyond, past”), Low German vörbi, vörbie (“over, up, gone, finished, past”), German vorbei (“over, gone, past”), Danish forbi, Swedish förbi. More at fore, by.

1

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal Past; by; beyond.

To see the world and folk that went forby, […]1899, Richard Garnett, Alois Leonhard Brandl, The universal anthology:

2

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal Uncommonly; exceptionally.

He was forby kind.

forby

prep

Etymology From Middle English forby, forbi, of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, equivalent to fore- + by. Compare Saterland Frisian foarbie (“beyond, past”), West Frisian foarby (“over, beyond, past”), Dutch voorbij (“beyond, past”), Low German vörbi, vörbie (“over, up, gone, finished, past”), German vorbei (“over, gone, past”), Danish forbi, Swedish förbi. More at fore, by.

1

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal Beyond; past; more than; greater than; over and above; moreover.

2

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal, Of time Past; gone by; over.

3

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal Near; beside; by, close to.

Those were the two sonnes of Acrates old / Who meeting earst with Archimago slie, / Foreby that idle strond, of him were told, / That he, wich earst them combatted, was Guyon bold.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

4

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal On one side; out of the way.

5

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal Besides; in addition to; as well as; not to mention.

There was other six forby me.
[T]hey ca' it fasting when they hae the best o' fish frae Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forbye trouts, gilses, salmon, and a' the lave o't, and so they make their very fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [VI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 133:

1 more example

"Put on your dress, ye shameless witch, standin' there in your pelt I'll take a strap to, for havin' the conceit out of you, forby your idling had lost me the sup of gin to keep the breath of life in me."1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 173:

6

Northern England, Scotland, UK, Archaic, Dialectal With the exception of; not taking into account.

Synonyms: next to, beyond, on top of, barring, except for, save for