What does foregoing mean?
Foregoing is a formal English adjective meaning that which has come before — either earlier in time or, far more commonly, earlier in a piece of writing. When a lawyer writes 'in view of the foregoing', she is referring back to everything already set out in the document; when a scholar speaks of 'the foregoing chapters', she means those just completed. The word derives from the older verb 'forego', meaning simply to go before, which also produced the phrase 'foregone conclusion'. Because its near-twin 'forgoing' — from the unrelated-sounding verb 'forgo', meaning to give up or abstain from — differs by only one letter, the two are among English's most frequently confused words. Today 'foregoing' survives almost entirely in formal contexts such as contracts, court opinions, and academic prose, where precision and a slightly ceremonial tone are valued. It pairs naturally with synonyms like 'preceding' and 'aforementioned'.
adjectivePreceding in time or order; having gone before. Used chiefly to refer to something already mentioned or described, especially in legal, academic, and formal writing.
- Preceding in time, place, or order; especially, already stated or described in a text.
"The foregoing discussion makes clear that further research is needed."
"In view of the foregoing evidence, the committee approved the proposal."
"All of the foregoing conditions must be satisfied before the contract takes effect."
"Foregoing" and "forgoing" differ by one tiny letter 'e' — and mixing them up has tripped up writers, lawyers, and examiners for centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of foregoing
Foregoing originates from the Old English verb 'foregān', formed by combining the prefix 'fore-' ('before') with 'go', meaning literally to go before someone or something. The present-participle form gave rise to the adjective, which by early modern English was firmly established in formal writing as a way of referring back to previously stated material. It shares the Germanic 'fore-' prefix with cognate compounds such as 'foresee', 'foretell', 'forerunner', and 'forefather'. Its sibling 'foregone' produced the well-known idiom 'a foregone conclusion', immortalized by Shakespeare in Macbeth.
Related word forms
How foregoing is actually used
Formal in register, appearing most often in legal documents, contracts, academic writing, and official reports; rarely used in everyday speech. It functions almost exclusively attributively or after 'the' (e.g. 'the foregoing'), and is often used interchangeably with 'aforementioned', though 'foregoing' more often refers to an entire preceding passage rather than a single item.
Easily confused with foregoing
Forgoing means giving up or doing without something (from 'forgo'), whereas foregoing means preceding or coming before (from 'forego') — a famously easy pair to mix up.