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

Etymology 1

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”)).

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

• German: gegnerisch (de), feindlich (de)
• Hungarian: ellenséges (hu)
• Spanish: rival (es)

Noun

foe (plural foes)

1. 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.

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

• befoe
• 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

Etymology

From English bee.

Noun

foe

1. bee

Middle English

Noun

foe

1. Alternative form of fo

Portuguese

Verb

foe

1. Obsolete spelling of foi.