Summary: Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2013 is: forfend \for-FEND\ verb 1 : to ward off : prevent 2 : protect, preserve Examples: The fort functioned as a place of refuge where the settlers could forfend themselves from attack. "'Sir!' Scotty sounded genuinely indignant. 'You're not suggesting that I would let any piece of equipment aboard my ship fall into disrepair, are you?' 'Heaven forfend, Scotty,' Kirk answered, successfully keeping the smile he wore from his voice." From William Leisner's 2013 book Star Trek: The Original Series: The Shocks of Adversity Did you know? English speakers have been using "forfend" with the meanings "to forbid" and "to prevent" since the late 14th century, and the meaning "to protect" since the late 16th century. These days, however, the "forbid" sense is considered archaic; we only use it (as in our second example) in phrases like "heaven forfend" or "God forfend." "Forfend" comes from "for-" (an old prefix meaning "so as to involve prohibition, exclusion, omission, failure, neglect, or refusal") and Middle English "fenden" (a shorter variant of "defenden," meaning "to defend").
