Etymologically
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foil

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Pronunciation

foil1 thwart

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English foilen (“to trample”), borrowed from Old French fouler (“to full cloth, trample, oppress”),[2][3][4] of which the English form is an irregular representation,[5][3][6] perhaps through an Anglo-Norman variant;[7][8] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records the verb in Anglo-Norman from 1121–25, meaning to full cloth, to trample and to oppress.[9] The French verb comes from Vulgar Latin *fullō (“to clean cloth”) (by treading on it),[3][10] formed on fullō (“fuller”), a word of unknown origin.[3][6][8] The OED notes that the English spelling “foyle” would normally represent fouillier (“to dig, root”), and that the cause of this irregularity has not been found.[5] Weekley thought the verb was a blend of fouler with affoler (“to befool”).[11] Full, to thicken cloth, and fuller are from the same source.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To trample under foot: about 1330, in Arthour and Merlin,[5] and before 1300 in Barnhart;[12] Etymonline gives about 1300, in the hunting sense of spoiling a trace or scent by running over it.[3]

Semantic evolution

From trampling, the verb passed to the hunting sense, of a hunted animal running over its own track and so baffling the hounds (about 1410 in Barnhart, 1649 in the OED),[12][5] which gave the noun foil, the track of a hunted animal (1575), as in run the foil.[5][7] The sense "to overthrow, defeat an enemy" is recorded from 1548 and "to frustrate an attempt or baffle a person" from before 1564,[5][3] and a noun meaning a repulse or setback followed in the late 15th century.[5][3] In wrestling a foil was a throw that did not result in a flat fall (1553–1721).[5] Influenced by foul and defile, the verb also meant to defile or dishonour in late Middle English.[5][7] The cry Foiled again! is recorded from 1847.[3] In Cumberland and Yorkshire, to run the old foil meant of a hare to run the same course twice, and figuratively to court a former sweetheart again.[13]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to spoil a scent by running over it.[3]
  • c. 1330 – to trample down.[5]
  • c. 1380 – to defile (now dialect).[5]
  • c. 1478 – noun: a repulse, defeat.[5]
  • 1548 – to defeat an opponent.[5][3]
  • a1564 – to frustrate, baffle.[5]
  • 1575 – noun: the track of a hunted animal.[5]
  • 1847 – Foiled again![3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To prevent someone from achieving an aim; to thwart or frustrate a plan: Police foiled the robbery.
  2. (hunting) Of an animal: to cross or retrace its track so as to spoil the scent.
  3. (obsolete) To trample.

Noun

  1. (archaic) A setback or defeat.
  2. (hunting) The track or scent of a hunted animal.

Word family

  • foilable
  • unfoiled

foil2 thin sheet of metal

Etymology

The metal leaf is inherited from Middle English foile,[2][3] borrowed from Old French foil (“leaf; sheet of metal”) (masculine) and foille (feminine), modern French feuille.[5][7][3][6] The masculine comes from folium (“leaf”), and the feminine from its plural folia, taken as a feminine singular;[5][6][3][11] the feminine has replaced the masculine in all the modern Romance languages except in Italian foglio, a leaf of a book.[5][11] The Latin word is cognate with Ancient Greek φύλλον (phúllon, “leaf”),[5][11] and Etymonline and the AHD take it from the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to thrive, bloom”),[3][14] which, according to Ayto, also gave blade, bloom, blossom and flower.[8] It is the second element of trefoil, cinquefoil and milfoil.[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A very thin sheet of metal: about 1325, spelled foyle, in Barnhart,[12] early 14th century in Etymonline,[3] and 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, in the OED.[5] The sense "leaf of a plant" is recorded from about 1420, but it had died out by about 1500.[5][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century jewellers placed a thin leaf of metal under a precious stone to make it shine more brightly,[6][3] which led to the figurative sense, a person or thing that sets off another by contrast (1580s).[3][8][11] A sheet of metal behind the glass of a mirror was a foil from before 1582.[5] In architecture the word names, from 1835, one of the small arcs between the cusps of Gothic tracery,[5][4] and in heraldry the representation of a leaf from 1562.[5] Metal foil as a wrapping for food is recorded from 1897 in Etymonline[3] and 1946 in the OED.[5] Since the mid-20th century foil has also been a short form of hydrofoil.[7] The verb, to back or cover with foil, dates from 1611,[2][5][3] and "to set off by contrast" from 1856, in Ruskin.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1325 – foyle, thin sheet of metal.[12]
  • c. 1420 – a leaf of a plant (obsolete).[5]
  • 1562 – (heraldry) the representation of a leaf.[5]
  • 1580s – one who sets off another by contrast.[3]
  • 1611 – verb: to back with foil.[5][2]
  • 1835 – (architecture) a small arc in tracery.[5]
  • 1897 – metal foil for wrapping food.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Metal beaten or rolled into a very thin, flexible sheet: Wrap the fish in foil before baking.
  2. A person or thing that sets off another by contrast: The calm sister was a perfect foil to her restless brother.
  3. A thin leaf of metal placed behind a gem or the glass of a mirror.
  4. (architecture) A small arc or lobe between the cusps in tracery.
  5. A hydrofoil.

Verb

  1. To back or cover with foil.
  2. To set off by contrast.

Word family

  • tinfoil
  • trefoil
  • quatrefoil
  • cinquefoil
  • hydrofoil
  • airfoil

foil3 fencing sword

Etymology

The sword is of uncertain origin.[5][6][7][8] It is usually taken from the verb foil in the sense of a weapon with its point blunted or made harmless,[12][4][5] but the OED objects that the verb does not seem to have meant "to blunt".[5] The OED also mentions that the phrase “at foils” may first have belonged to the noun meaning a parry, or that the word may be an alteration of foin, a thrust, which named a fencing sword in the 17th century.[5] Etymonline and Ayto allow a transferred use of foil meaning a leaf,[3][8] and Weekley thought it the same word, since French feuille is still used for the blade of a saw,[11] but the OED finds no evidence for this.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A light fencing sword with a blunt edge and a button on the point: 1594, in Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller.[5][12][3]

Semantic evolution

The plural foils named the sport of fencing with these weapons from 1600, especially in the phrase “at foils”,[5][7] and a verb, to thrust with a foil, is recorded in the same year.[5] In modern fencing the foil is one of three weapons, with a flexible blade of rectangular section, and hits count only on the trunk.[15][2]

Timeline

  • 1594 – a light fencing sword.[5][12]
  • 1600 – foils, fencing; the verb, to thrust with a foil.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A light, flexible fencing sword with a button on its point to prevent injury.
  2. (in plural) The sport of fencing with such swords.

Word family

  • foilist
  • foilsman

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b c d e f Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  14. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  15. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins