forspan

verb, noun — 2 senses

forspan

verb

Etymology From Middle English forspannen, forspanen, from Old English forspanan (“to mislead, lead astray, seduce, entice”), from Proto-Germanic *farspananą, *fraspananą (“to allure”), equivalent to for- + span. Cognate with Middle High German verspanen (“to tempt, entice”).

Obsolete To entice; seduce.

forspan

noun

Etymology From fore- + span.

Foresight; the ability to see, predict, or perceive future events.

In a remote age and country we find Njal, the hero of the Njal's saga, credited with forspan, or the gift of beholding such shadowy apparitions of future events — a power carefully distinguished from ordinary clear-sighted wisdom.1902, Day Otis Kellogg, Thomas Spencer Baynes, William Robertson Smith, The Encyclopaedia Britannica:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.