forgrow

English

Etymology

From Middle English forgrowen, from Old English forgrōwan (“to grow up, grow into, increase, overgrow”), equivalent to for- +‎ grow.

Verb

forgrow (third-person singular simple present forgrows, present participle forgrowing, simple past forgrew, past participle forgrown)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To grow to excess or out of shape; grow unduly.
   • 1567, Arthur Golding, transl., The XV Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, entytuled Metamorphosis‎^[1], Book 1:

     A terror to the new made folke, which neuer erst had knowne
     So foule a Dragon in their life, so monstrously foregrowne,
     So great a ground thy poyson paunch did vnderneath thée hide.

2. (intransitive, obsolete) To become grown over; overgrow; become covered with growth (usually one that is excessive or unsightly).
   • 1561, John Gough, “To the Christian Reader”, in A Godly Boke Wherein is Contayned Certayne Fruitefull, Godlye, and Necessarye Rules‎^[2], London: William Seres:

     And after the floode was passed & Noy and his housholde come out of the arke, the worlde beyng deuided among his thre sonnes, Sem, Cham, and Iaphethe, and that the people began eftsones to multiplye and increase, the worlde was so forgrowen in wickednes, that there was none found, that truely worshipped god […]

   • 1595, Jacques Hurault, translated by Arthur Golding, Politicke, Moral and Martial Discourses‎^[3], London: Adam Islip, Book 2, Chapter 9, p. 298:

     Plutarch saith that mens minds do rust and forgrow through idlenes […]