Verb
(third-person singular simple present fortreads, present participle fortreading, simple past fortrod, past participle fortrodden)
Origin
From Middle English fortreden, from Old English fortredan (“to tread down, trample on”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- + Proto-Germanic *tredaną, *trudaną (“to trample”), equivalent to for- + tread. Compare Dutch vertreden (“to trample”). More at for-, tread.
