Etymologically
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foul

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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 fūls, stinking,[3][2][5] from PIE *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

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