forfeit

Meanings

Noun

• A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
• 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.
• Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.
• Injury; wrong; mischief.

Verb

• To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance
• 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
• To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.
• To fail to keep an obligation.

Adjective

• Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.

Related

Similar words

• capitulate, surrender, disqualify
• forgo, withgo

Origin

• Middle English forfait from ca. 1300, from Old French forfait ("crime"), originally the past participle of forfaire, and Medieval Latin foris factum. During the 15th century, the sense shifted from the crime to the penalty for the crime.