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Added 2 October 2026

forage

/ˈfɒɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ noun

In Latin: pābulor, frūmentor Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about forage at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Fodder for animals, especially cattle and horses.
An act or instance of foraging.
The demand for fodder, etc., by an army from the local population.

verb

To search for and gather food for animals, particularly cattle and horses.
To rampage through, gathering and destroying as one goes.
To rummage.

Origin

From Middle English forage, from Old French fourage, forage, a derivative of fuerre (“fodder, straw”), from Frankish *fōdar (“fodder, sheath”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“fodder, feed, sheath”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect, to feed”). Cognate with Old High German fuotar (German Futter (“fodder, feed”)), Old English fōdor, fōþer (“food, fodder, covering, case, basket”), Dutch voeder (“forage, food, feed”), Danish foder (“fodder, feed”), Icelandic fóðr (“fodder, sheath”). More at fodder, food. Unrelated to modern French forage (“drilling”), whose first element is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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