foul

Pronunciation

• IPA: /faʊl/, /ˈfaʊ.əl/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English foul, inherited from Old English fūl (“rotten, unclean, vile, corrupt”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz,^[2][3][4] source also of Dutch vuil, German faul (“rotten, lazy”), Old Norse fúll and Gothic 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐍃 (fūls), stinking,^[3][2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *pu-, to rot, decay, perhaps from the sound made on smelling something bad;^[3] Latin pūs, pus, and putēre, to stink, are cognate.^[2][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Grossly offensive to the senses, stinking: before 800.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The original sense was stinking or disgusting.^[6] Old English fūl occasionally meant ugly, as the opposite of fæger, fair;^[3] Hoad dates the sense opposite of fair to Middle English.^[4] Dirty, soiled, is from about 1000,^[7] and of weather from the mid-14th century.^[3] Foul play is recorded from the mid-15th century,^[3][6] and in sport, irregular or contrary to the rules, from 1797,^[3] with players able to complain of a foul from the 1750s.^[6] In baseball, out of play, it is by 1860.^[3] The verb, Old English fūlian, to rot, meant to make foul or pollute from about 1200,^[3] and to become entangled, chiefly nautical, from 1832.^[3]

Timeline

• before 800 – stinking.^[7]
• c. 1000 – dirty.^[7]
• c. 1200 – to pollute (verb).^[3]
• mid-14th century – of weather.^[3]
• mid-15th century – foul play.^[3]
• 1797 – against the rules.^[3]
• 1832 – to become entangled.^[3]
• 1860 – a foul ball.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Offensive to the senses; disgusting or stinking.
2. Full of dirt or impurities; polluted.
3. Morally offensive; wicked.
4. Obscene or vulgar: foul language.
5. Of weather, unpleasant or stormy.
6. Against the rules of a game; unfair.
7. Entangled, clogged or obstructed.

Noun

1. A breach of the rules of a game.
2. An entanglement or collision.

Verb

1. To make dirty; to pollute.
2. To commit a foul against a player.
3. To clog, obstruct or entangle.

Word family

• foully
• foulness
• afoul
• befoul
• biofouling
• filth
• foulbrood
• foulmouthed

Related words

• fair
• putrid
• pus
• defile

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press