Hypertext Webster Gateway: "forsooth"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Forsooth \For*sooth"\, n.
A person who used forsooth much; a very ceremonious and
deferential person. [R.]
You sip so like a forsooth of the city. --B. Jonson.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Forsooth \For*sooth"\, adv. [AS. fors[=o][eth]; for, prep. +
s[=o][eth] sooth, truth. See {For}, prep., and {Sooth}.]
In truth; in fact; certainly; very well; -- formerly used as
an expression of deference or respect, especially to woman;
now used ironically or contemptuously.
A fit man, forsooth, to govern a realm! --Hayward.
Our old English word forsooth has been changed for the
French madam. --Guardian.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Forsooth \For*sooth"\, v. t.
To address respectfully with the term forsooth. [Obs.]
The captain of the ``Charles'' had forsoothed her,
though he knew her well enough and she him. --Pepys.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
forsooth
adv : (used as intensifiers or sentence modifiers) "in truth,
moral decay hastened the decline of the Roman Empire";
"really, you shouldn't have done it"; "a truly awful
book"; (`forsooth' is archaic and now usually used to
express disbelief) [syn: {in truth}, {really}, {truly}]
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