forfend : M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 15 is:

forfend \for-FEND\ verb
*1 : to ward off : prevent
2 : protect, preserve

Example sentence:
My roommate claims that the best way to forfend a nasty cold is to chew garlic.

Did you know?
"Heaven forfend if you don't treat the restaurant critic well--she'll cost you points if she leaves unhappy," wrote Peter Cohen in an October 2005 issue of _Macworld_, using an old meaning of "forfend" in the process. English speakers have been using "forfend" with the meanings "to forbid" and "to prevent" since the late 14th century (and the meaning "to protect" since the late 16th century). These days, however, the "forbid" sense is considered archaic; we only use it, as Cohen did, in the phrase "heaven forfend," which harks back to the days of yore. "Forfend" comes from "for-" (an old prefix meaning "so as to involve prohibition, exclusion, omission, failure, neglect, or refusal") and Middle English "fenden" (a shorter variant of "defenden," meaning "to defend").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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