English
forfeit
Forfeit comes from Old French forfait ‘crime’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400forfait2‘crime’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forfait1‘crime’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598forfeit1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English forfeit
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English forfait
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “I will have the heart of him if he…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, English forfeit‘to do’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400forfaitWiktionary, Middle English forfait‘crime’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forfaitWiktionary, English forfeit‘crime’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598forfeitWiktionary, English forfeit. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “I will have the heart of him if he…”
The story
During the 15th century, the sense shifted from the crime to the penalty for the crime.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
do, fact, deal, hot, fair, fan, fashion, mid, defense, benefit, feature, theme, custom, ethnic, sufficient, defence, treasury, treasure, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, synthetic, theology, doom, defendant, tick, deed, dis, feast, ethic, atheist, demi, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, atheism, fanatic, familial, medial, 128 more
Today it means
noun A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “forfeit”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English forfait. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / forfeit