foe

See also: FOE, FoE, föe, fo'e, and fö

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fəʊ/
(General American) IPA^(key): /foʊ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -əʊ
Homophone: faux

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English fo (“foe; hostile”), from earlier ifo (“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 pìktas (“evil”)).

AdjectiveEdit

foe

(obsolete) Hostile.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, John Florio, transl., 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 […].

TranslationsEdit

hostile

German: gegnerisch (de), feindlich (de)
Spanish: rival (es)

NounEdit

foe (plural foes)

An enemy.
- 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.

SynonymsEdit

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

AntonymsEdit

(enemy): ally, friend

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

enemy — see enemy

Etymology 2Edit

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.