For Meaning
/fɔː/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
conjBecause.
prepTowards; in the direction of.
Sentence Examples
I'm at a loss for words.
I can only wonder if this is the same for everyone else.
You must be able to speak French for this job.
CEFR Practice Quiz
We bought a beautiful gift ____ our mother to celebrate her fifty-first birthday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I have been waiting ____ the train over thirty minutes now.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English for, from Old English for (“for, because of”), from Proto-Germanic *furi (“for”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-. Cognate with West Frisian foar (“for”), Dutch voor (“for”), German für (“for”), Danish for (“for”), Swedish för (“for”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk for (“for”), Icelandic fyrir (“for”), Latin per (“by, through, for, by means of”) and Romance language descendants (e.g. Spanish por (“for”)), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “for, about, toward”), Lithuanian per (“by, through, during”), Slovak pre (“for”), Sanskrit परि (pári, “over, around”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…]Dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skillful and deadly."
— c. 1601, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, act 3, scene 4:
"[…]nor is there found, in sea or on land, a sweeter or pleasanter of gifts than she; for she is prime in comeliness and seemlihead of face and symmetrical shape of perfect grace; her check is ruddy dight, her brow flower white, her teeth gem-bright, her eyes blackest black and whitest white, her hips of heavy weight, her waist slight and her favour exquisite."
— 1885, Richard Francis Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night:
""By means of the Golden Cap I shall command the Winged Monkeys to carry you to the gates of the Emerald City," said Glinda, "for it would be a shame to deprive the people of so wonderful a ruler.""
— 1900, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
"Let me root, root, root for the home team, / If they don't win, it's a shame. / For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, / At the old ball game."
— 1908, Jack Norworth, Albert Von Tilzer, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, performed by Edward Meeker:
"Wee ſailed from Peru, (where wee had continued by the ſpace of one whole yeare,) for China and Iapan, by the South Sea; [...]"
— 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 1:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
We bought a beautiful gift ____ our mother to celebrate her fifty-first birthday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I have been waiting ____ the train over thirty minutes now.