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PlainSpell

forfeit

for·feit/ˈfɔɹ.fɪt/noun, verb, adjective

forfeit is spelled F-O-R-F-E-I-T, 2 syllables: for·feit. The wrong spelling people search most is forfiet: about 130 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 12 of all searches for the word. Forfeit is a noun meaning “A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor”. The plural of forfeit is forfeits.

How many letters and syllables are in forfeit?

Letters7: F-O-R-F-E-I-T
Syllables2: for·feit
In writing2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, forfiet, about 130 Bing searches a month (all of them)

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell forfeit?

Forfeit is spelled F-O-R-F-E-I-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 12 of the searches for forfeit in either form.

forfeitthe right spelling1,430 searches a month
forfiete and i swapped130 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is forfeit?

Forfeit appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce forfeit?

  • UK /ˈfɔː.fɪt/
  • US /ˈfɔɹ.fɪt/
  • US /ˈfɔrfət/

Forfeit has 2 syllables, split for·feit in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-forfeit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of forfeit

  • forfeits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • forfeiting participle, present
  • forfeited participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does forfeit mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.

  2. 2

    A thing forfeited; that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed; that which is lost, or the right to which is alienated, by a crime, breach of contract, etc.

    He who murders pays the forfeit of his own life.

  3. 3

    Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.

  4. 4

    obsoleterareInjury; wrong; mischief.

    a. 1789, Barry St. Leger, Siege of Nicopolis to seek arms upon people and country that never did us any forfeit

verb

  1. 1

    To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance

    He forfeited his last chance of an early release from jail by repeatedly attacking another inmate.

  2. 2

    To lose a contest, game, match, or other form of competition by voluntary withdrawal, by failing to attend or participate, or by violation of the rules

    Because only nine players were present, the football team was forced to forfeit the game.

  3. 3

    To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.

  4. 4

    To fail to keep an obligation.

  5. 5

    Of government officials: to legally remove property from its previous owners.

adjective

  1. 1

    Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate forfeit?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of forfeit: FF, ff.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Forfeit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanStrafe (penalty), Pfand (something deposited and redeemable), verwirken, einbüßen, verspielen (to suffer the loss), aufgeben (to give up in defeat)
Portuguesepenalidade (penalty), prenda (something deposited and redeemable), perder (to suffer the loss), render-se, desistir, abandonar (to give up in defeat)
Frenchgage (something deposited and redeemable), perdre, démériter (to suffer the loss), abandonner, déclarer forfait (to give up in defeat)
Spanishprenda (something deposited and redeemable), desmerecer de, desmerecerse de (to suffer the loss), rendirse (to give up in defeat)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does forfeit come from?

From Middle English forfait from ca. 1300, from Old French forfait (“crime”), originally the past participle of forfaire (“to transgress”), and Medieval Latin foris factum. During the 15th century, the sense shifted from the crime to the penalty for the crime.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after forfeit