Definition of "forfend" [for•fend]

• To keep or ward off; avert. (verb-transitive)
• Archaic To forbid. (verb-transitive)
• To defend or protect. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "[Footnote: Cf. the prefix "for -" in English "forfend," to keep away, to avert, "forbid," to exclude from, to command against, "forbear," to refrain from, etc.]"
• "I’ll forfend from the typical look at all the vendors photograph, you’ve seen them before."
• "This is partly because the work's previous presentation in a Broadway house under the auspices of Cameron Mackintosh, known for blockbuster musicals, stirred up a somewhat antagonistic debate: Is this theater or, h eaven forfend, a ballet?"