Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FOR-LORN', a. [Sax. forloren, from forleoran, to send away, to relinquish, to desert, to lose; leoran, to pass, to migrate; D. verlooren; Dan. forloren, from forlorer, Sw. förlora, to lose. Class Lr.]

1. Deserted; destitute; stripped or deprived; forsaken. Hence, lost; helpless; wretched; solitary. Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn. Hubberd. To live again in these wild woods forlorn. Milton. For here forlorn and lost I tread. Goldsmith.
2. Taken away. [Obs.] When as night hath us of light forlorn. Spenser.
3. Small; despicable; in a ludicrous sense. Shak. Forlorn hope, properly, a desperate case; hence in military affairs, a detachment of men appointed to lead in an assault, to storm a counterscarp, enter a breach, or perform other service attended with uncommon peril.