for
UK /fɔː/ · US /fɔɹ/ conjunction, preposition, particle
Forms fa fo foh fo' fur fuh fer
- conjunction (formal, literary) Because. “I had to stay with my wicked stepmother, for I had nowhere else to go.”
- preposition Towards; in the direction of. “The astronauts headed for the moon.”
- preposition Leading towards in time or circumstance. “We're heading for bankruptcy.”
- preposition Directed at; intended to belong to. “I have something for you.”
- preposition In order to help, benefit, gratify, honor etc. (someone or something). “Everything I do, I do for you.”
- preposition Befitting of someone’s beliefs, needs, wants, skills, or tastes; best suited to. “I’ll strike a blow for you.”
- preposition To be used or treated in a stated way, or with a stated purpose or meaning. “This is a new bell for my bicycle.”
- preposition Supporting, in favour of. “All those for the motion, raise your hands.”
- preposition Because of. “He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him.”
- particle (African-American Vernacular, dated) To; (the particle for marking the following verb as an infinitive).
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English for, from Old English for (“for, because of”), from Proto-Germanic *furi (“for”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-.
Cognate with West Frisian foar (“for”), Dutch voor (“for”), German für (“for”), Danish for (“for”), Swedish för (“for”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk for (“for”), Icelandic fyrir (“for”), Latin per (“by, through, for, by means of”) and Romance language descendants (e.g. Spanish por (“for”)), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “for, about, toward”), Lithuanian per (“by, through, during”), Slovak pre (“for”), Sanskrit परि (pári, “over, around”).
Webster’s 1913
- preposition In the most general sense, indicating that in consideration of, in view of, or with reference to, which anything is done or takes place.
- preposition Indicating the antecedent cause or occasion of an action; the motive or inducement accompanying and prompting to an act or state; the reason of anything; that on account of which a thing is or is done.
- conjunction Because; by reason that; for that; indicating, in Old English, the reason of anything.
- conjunction Since; because; introducing a reason of something before advanced, a cause, motive, explanation, justification, or the like, of an action related or a statement made. It is logically nearly equivalent to since, or because, but connects less closely, and is sometimes used as a very general introduction to something suggested by what has gone before.
Etymology [AS. for, fore; akin to OS. for, fora, furi, D. voor, OHG. fora, G. vor, OHG. furi, G. für, Icel. fyrir, Sw. för, Dan. for, adv. för, Goth. faúr, faúra, L. pro, Gr. pra-. sq. root 202. Cf. Fore, First, Foremost, Forth, Pro-.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “for”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details