forlornmid-12c., forloren “disgraced, depraved,” pp. of obsolete forlesan “be deprived of, lose, abandon,” from O.E. forleosan “to lose, abandon, let go; destroy, ruin,” from for- “completely” + leosan “to lose” (see lose). In the Mercian hymns, L. perditionis is glossed by O.E. forlorenisse. Sense of “forsaken, abandoned” is 1530s; that of “wretched, miserable” first recorded 1580s. A common Germanic compound (cf. O.S. farilosan, O.Fris. urliasa, M.Du. verliesen, Du. verliezen, O.H.G. virliosan, Ger. verlieren, Goth. fraliusan “to lose”). Commonly in forlorn hope (1570s), which is a partial translation of Du. verloren hoop, in which hoop means “troop, band,” lit. “heap,” and the sense of the whole phrase is of a suicide mission. The phrase is usually used incorrectly in English, and the misuse has colored the sense of forlorn. Related: Forlornly; forlornness.