Foe - Wiktionary

See also: FOE, FoE, föe, fo'e, and fö

English

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Pronunciation

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• (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fəʊ/
• (General American) IPA(key): /foʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophones: faux, pho

Etymology 1

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From Middle English fo (“foe; hostile”), from earlier yfoh, yvo, ifa (“foe”), from Old English ġefāh (“enemy”), from fāh (“hostile”), from Proto-West Germanic *faih, from Proto-Germanic *faihaz (compare Old Frisian fāch (“punishable”), Middle High German gevēch (“feuder”)), from Proto-Indo-European *peyk/ḱ- (“to hate, be hostile”) (compare Middle Irish óech (“enemy, fiend”), Lithuanian pi̇̀ktas (“evil”)).

Adjective

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foe

1. (obsolete) Hostile.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:, vol.1, ch.23: he, I say, could passe into Affrike onely with two simple ships or small barkes, to commit himselfe in a strange and foe countrie, to engage his person, under the power of a barbarous King […].

Translations

[edit] hostile

Danish: fjendtlig German: gegnerisch (de), feindlich (de) Hungarian: ellenséges (hu) Spanish: rival (es), inimicísimo (es) (superlative, disused)

Noun

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foe (plural foes)

1. An enemy.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:36:And a mans foes ſhalbe they of his owne houſhold.
   • 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

Synonyms

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• (enemy): adversary, enemy, opponent, fiend.

Antonyms

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• (antonym(s) of “enemy”): ally, friend

Derived terms

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• archfoe
• befoe
• feud
• foedom
• foehood
• foeless
• foelike
• foeman
• foeship
• foesome
• identification friend or foe

Translations

[edit] enemy — see enemy

Etymology 2

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English Wikipedia has an article on:foe (unit)Wikipedia

Acronym of [ten to the power of] fifty-one ergs, due to equalling 1051 ergs; coined by Gerald Brown of Stony Brook University in his work with Hans Bethe.

Noun

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foe (plural foes)

1. A unit of energy equal to 1044 joules.

Synonyms

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• bethe (B)

Anagrams

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• EFO, EOF, OEF

Cameroon Pidgin

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Preposition

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foe

1. alternative spelling of for

Choctaw

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Alternative forms

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• foi

Etymology

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From English bee.

Noun

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foe

1. bee

Gullah

[edit] Gullah numbers (edit)

←  3	4	5  →
African Cardinal: nai     American Cardinal: foe     Ordinal: foe     Adverbial: fuh fo     Multiplier: fo-time     Collective: allfo

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /foː/

Etymology 1

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From English four.

Alternative forms

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• fo, foh

Number

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foe

1. four

Etymology 2

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See 'fo'.

Adverb

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foe

1. variant of 'fo'

Etymology 3

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See fuh.

Preposition

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foe

1. variant of fuh

References

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• Lorenzo Dow Turner, Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect (1969)
•  Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association. Afro-Seminole Creole Wikitongues Language Class 

Middle English

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Noun

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foe

1. alternative form of fo

Portuguese

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Verb

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foe

1. obsolete spelling of foi

Samoan

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Etymology

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From Proto-Polynesian *fohe (compare with Māori hoe, Tongan fohe), from Proto-Central Pacific *voce (compare with Fijian voce), from Proto-Oceanic *pose, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *boʀse, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bəʀsay (“canoe paddle”) (compare with Pangutaran Sama busay, Kelabit besai, Central Dusun bosi, Cebuano bugsáy).[1]

Noun

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foe

1. oar
2. paddle

References

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1. ^ Ross, Malcolm D.; Pawley, Andrew; Osmond, Meredith (1998), The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 1: Material Culture, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, pages 198-9