for- + sake

ABANDON, DESERT, FORSAKE mean to leave without intending to return.

ABANDON suggests that the thing or person left may be helpless without protection.

e.g. abandoned children

DESERT implies that the object left may be weakened but not destroyed by one's absence.

e.g. a deserted town

FORSAKE suggests an action more likely to bring impoverishment or bereavement to that which is forsaken than its exposure to physical dangers.

e.g. a forsaken lover

source: [冴えない彼女の育てかたの澤村・スペンサー・英梨々がランドセルを背負うGIF画像｜無料GIF画像検索 GIFMAGAZINE 872617]

verb (past forsook | -ˈso͝ok | ; past participle forsaken | -ˈsākən | ) with object chiefly literary

abandon (someone or something):

〈家族･友人など〉を見捨てる, 見限る(abandon)(→ desert); 〈土地〉を去る.

e.g. he would never forsake Tara.

renounce or give up (something valued or pleasant):

〈習慣･主義･信仰･生活様式など〉をやめる, 廃止する.

e.g. I won't forsake my vegetarian principles.

forsaker noun

Old English forsacan‘renounce, refuse’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch verzaken, and ultimately to for- and sake1.