From fore- (prefix meaning ‘positioned at or near the front’) + hold (“the cargo area of an aircraft or ship”). Hold is a variant of hole (influenced by hold (verb)), from Middle English hole, hol (“perforation, hole; cave, cavern; hiding place, shelter; cell, compartment”), from Old English hol (“hole (in the ground)”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol (“hollow”), from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“depression, hollow; hole”), from Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”); further etymology uncertain, possibly either from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover; to conceal, hide”) or *ḱewh₁- (“to be strong; to swell”).
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Nautical, Transport The forward or front part of the hold of a ship.
It freezes very hard, and we find it extreamly cold. The next Day, the ſame Weather, we went aboard, and ſcuttled for Flower in the Forehold. The 25th, little Wind at N.E. and froſty Weather, went aboard again, and got out of the Forehold eight Barrels of Flower, one Cask of Peaſe, with ſome Brandy and Wine.1743, John Bulkeley, John Cummins, A Voyage to the South-Seas, in the Years 1740–1. Containing, a Faithful Narrative of the Loss of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager on a Desolate Island in the Latitude 47 South, Longitude 81:40 West: […], London: […] Jacob Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 24:
At nine in the evening, the Rippon, which ſtill remained aground, ran her larboard guns over the ſtarboard ſide, ſtarted thirty tun of water in the forehold, to lighten her forward, and employed all her boats in endeavouring to tow off: […]1761, John Barrow, “Containing the Naval Transactions in the Year 1759”, in The Naval History of Great Britain; with the Lives of the Most Illustrious Admirals and Commanders, Deduced from the Earliest Establishment of the British Marine. […], volume IV, London: […] T. Lownds, […]; T. Caslon, […]; and W. Bristow, […], →OCLC, page 366:
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Captain [John] Gore therefore ſent the carpenters of the Reſolution to aſſiſt our own in repairing her [the Discovery]; and accordingly, the forehold being cleared, to lighten her forward, they were ſet to work to rip the damaged ſheathing from the larboard bow.1784, James King, chapter V, in A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Undertaken, by the Command of His Majesty, for Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. […], volume III, London: […] W[illiam] and A. Strahan; for G[eorge] Nicol, […]; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, book VI (Transactions during the Second Expedition to the North, by the Way of Kamtschatka; […]), page 287:
Extract of a Letter from an Officer belonging to the Major East-Indiaman, dated Calcutta, April 30 1784. […] The ſhip had been extremely infeſted with a kind of beetle called Cockroaches, which eat through every thing; and it was found neceſſary to fumigate the holds and decks, previous to her receiving the cargo on board, in order to deſtroy theſe vermin. In performing this buſineſs, by ſome accident, the fore hold of the ſhip caught fire.1784 April 30, “Advices from the East Indies”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine: and Historical Chronicle, volume LIV, part II, number 5, London: […] John Nichols, for D[avid] Henry, […]; and sold by E[lizabeth] Newbery, […], published November 1784, →OCLC, page 866, column 1:
The salt provision rooms are on either side of the forehold amidships.1847 November 6, “The Blenheim, Steam Guardship”, in The Patent Journal, and Inventors’ Magazine, volume III, number 76, London: […] Patent Journal Office, […]; sold by Curry, jun., and Co., [et al.], →OCLC, page 566, column 2:
I knew there was no other bulkhead in the ship but the collision bulkhead separating the forepeak from the forehold.1899 September – 1900 July, Joseph Conrad, chapter IV, in Lord Jim: A Tale, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1900, →OCLC, page 29:
forehold
verb
UK /fɔːˈhəʊld/ · US /fɔɹˈhoʊld/
Etymology From fore- (prefix meaning ‘occurring beforehand; earlier, prior to’) + hold (“to maintain; to consider, opine”). Hold is derived from Middle English holden (“to grasp; to possess; to hold (a belief or opinion”), from Old English healdan (“to grasp, hold fast; to possess”), from Proto-West Germanic *haldan (“to hold; to keep”), from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to hold; to keep”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover; to conceal, hide”).
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Rare To hold or believe (something) beforehand; to assume; to anticipate, to predict.
Instead of that he has encountered nothing but harsh criticism, unkindly dispositions, even on the part of his relatives, and he naturally drifted into places and surroundings where legitimate sympathy was not foreheld.1902, J. F. Hultgen, “Infantile Hemiplegia and Inebriety”, in Bulletin of Iowa Institutions (under the Board of Control), volume IV, Dubuque, Iowa: Herald Printing Company, →OCLC, page 463:
Or he may call "he who foreholds" the one who wants and receives, rather than the one who confers first: he calls […]2001, Aspasius, [anonymous], Michael of Ephesus, translated by David Konstan, On Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 8–9 (The Ancient Commentators on Aristotle), London: Duckworth, →ISBN:
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In a case regarding hazardous waste disposal, the [European] Commission ordered recovery for that part of the operating aid, which did not concern foreholding a capacity for waste treatment, but rather for the acquisition of commercial hazardous waste.2006, Annette Kliemann, “Aid for Environmental Protection”, in Michael Sánchez Rydelski, editor, The EC State Aid Regime: Distortive Effects of State Aid on Competition and Trade, London: Cameron May, →ISBN, page 325: