follow

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈfɒl.əʊ/, US /ˈfɑː.loʊ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English folwen, inherited from Old English folgian, also fylgan,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *fulgōną.^[2][5] Its cognates include Old Frisian folgia, Old Saxon folgon, Dutch volgen, German folgen and Old Norse fylgja (“to accompany, help, follow”).^[3][4][6] Hoad calls it of unknown origin.^[5] Etymonline suggests it was originally a compound “full-going”, with a sense shifting to “serve, go with as an attendant”,^[2] and Merriam-Webster and Klein compare Welsh ôl (“track, trace”).^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To go after, accompany, especially as a disciple: Old English folgian, about 725, in Beowulf.^[3][2] Old English also used it for “to obey a rule; to apply oneself to a calling”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“To accept as leader or guide, obey” is late Old English.^[2] “To come after in time” and “to result from” are from about 1200,^[2] and the intransitive “to come behind” from the mid-13th century.^[2] “To keep up with mentally, understand” is from the 1690s.^[2] Follow one's nose, “go straight on”, is from the 1590s,^[2] and the game follow my leader is so called from 1812.^[2] The noun, in billiards a stroke that makes the cue ball roll on after the object ball, is from 1873,^[8] and follow-up from 1923.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English folgian (Beowulf).^[3]
• c. 1200 – to come after in time; to result from.^[2]
• mid-13th century – intransitive, to come behind.^[2]
• 1590s – follow one's nose.^[2]
• 1690s – to understand.^[2]
• 1812 – follow my leader.^[2]
• 1873 – noun, in billiards.^[8]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To come or go after; to pursue; to keep under surveillance.
2. To move along the course of: follow the road.
3. To accept the guidance or leadership of; to obey; to take as a model.
4. To come after in order or time; to occur as a consequence.
5. To grasp the meaning of; to understand.
6. To keep informed about: follow the news.

Noun

1. A billiards shot in which the cue ball follows the object ball.

Word family

• followable
• follower
• following
• follow-on
• follow-through
• follow-up
• follow out

Related words

• fellow

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that as follows is the established form whether the preceding noun is singular or plural, and compares follow with succeed, ensue and result.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin