foregone
foregone Lexical Profile
foregone Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Having been determined, settled, or inevitability decided in advance (most commonly used in the phrase 'foregone conclusion').
"Given the team's undefeated record all season, their victory in the championship game felt like a foregone conclusion."
Having gone before in time; previous or past.
"Historians studied the customs of foregone eras to understand how modern legal institutions evolved."
• verb
To go without or abstain from something desirable (as the past participle of 'forego', a variant of 'forgo').
"The executives have voluntarily foregone their annual bonuses to help fund the company's new research initiative."
To precede in time or place (as the past participle of 'forego').
"The concluding chapter summarizes the arguments that have foregone in the earlier sections of the treatise."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse the adjective 'foregone' (meaning predetermined or past, as in 'a foregone conclusion') with 'forgone', the standard past participle of 'forgo' (meaning to do without or abstain from, as in 'forgone income'), though 'foregone' is also widely used as a variant spelling of the participle.
• Rhymes for foregone
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English foregān, meaning 'to go before' or 'precede', formed from the prefix fore- ('before') and gān ('to go'). The common phrase 'foregone conclusion' originated in William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello (1604).