foe

See also: FOE, FoE, föe, fo'e, and fö

English

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophones: faux, pho (one pronunciaton); fow (toe–tow merger)

Etymology 1

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

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

hostile

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

Noun

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

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

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

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

Translations

enemy — see enemy

Etymology 2

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

foe (plural foes)

1. A unit of energy equal to 10⁴⁴ joules.

Synonyms

• bethe (B)

Anagrams

• EFO, EOF, OEF

Cameroon Pidgin

Preposition

foe

1. alternative spelling of for

Choctaw

Alternative forms

• foi

Etymology

From English bee.

Noun

foe

1. bee

Gullah

Gullah numbers ^(edit)

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foː/

Etymology 1

From English four.

Alternative forms

• fo, foh

Number

foe

1. four

Etymology 2

See 'fo'.

Adverb

foe

1. variant of 'fo'

Etymology 3

See fuh.

Preposition

foe

1. variant of fuh

References

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

Middle English

Noun

foe

1. alternative form of fo

Portuguese

Verb

foe

1. obsolete spelling of foi

Samoan

Etymology

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

Noun

foe

1. oar
2. paddle

References

• Milner, G.B. (1993), Samoan Dictionary, Auckland: Polynesian Press, →ISBN, page 67