forth
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adv.forward in time or place, or out from a starting point.
adv.forward in space, time, or degree; out into view from a particular place.
Simple“The trees began to bring forth new leaves as spring arrived.”
In context“The witness was called to come forth and provide testimony regarding the events of the previous evening.”
UsageCommonly follows verbs of movement or production like 'go', 'come', 'bring', or 'set'.
PitfallThis is the forth time I have asked. This is the fourth time I have asked.Do not confuse 'forth' (forward) with 'fourth' (the number 4 in a sequence).
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adv.used at the end of a list to mean 'and other similar things'.
adv.used in the fixed phrase 'and so forth' to indicate that a list continues in a similar manner.
Simple“We discussed the budget, the schedule, the staff, and so forth.”
In context“The report details the various administrative hurdles, including permit delays, zoning issues, and so forth, that stalled the project.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a specific type of computer programming language used to control machines.
n.a stack-based, concatenative computer programming language designed by Charles H. Moore.
Simple“The engineer decided to use Forth to program the small satellite controller.”
In context“Forth is often selected for embedded systems due to its low memory footprint and high execution speed.”
UsageUsually capitalized when referring to the programming language.
“That back and forth between computers and experiments could be the most exciting part.”
“The three-hour round trip to her family home means travelling back and forth makes little sense, so she waits on campus instead.”
From fourth, for "fourth-generation programming language"; the u was dropped because the IBM 1130 operating system limited filenames to five characters.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.