Etymologically
Log in

foi

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 10:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

foi f (plural fois)[1] Old French feid (about 1050), feit, fei (12th century); foi from the 12th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fei, inherited from Latin fidēs (“trust, confidence; good faith, loyalty; promise”), which in Christian Latin took the sense “faith in God”.[5][2][6][3][7][1] The Latin word belongs with fīdō (“to trust”) and foedus (“treaty”), and Rey and the Petit Robert trace it to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to trust; to persuade”), also seen in English bid and German bitten, Littré compares Ancient Greek πείθω (peíthō, “to persuade”).[2][8][1][9]

Cognate with Italian fede, Occitan fe, Catalan fe, Spanish fe, Portuguese fé and Breton feiz.[8][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has feit for faith in God: Quer feit i ert e justice ed amur “for there was faith there, and justice and love”.[5][11]

Semantic evolution

From the 11th century the word has its two basic values of commitment and belief.[2] In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it is a pledge of loyalty, par amor et par feid; in the feudal system foi was the oath of fealty of a vassal, as in foi et hommage (Furetière, 1690).[5][9][2][8] Bone foi “good faith” is in Gace Brulé (1181–86), male foi in Beaumanoir (1283), and faire foi “to be evidence” in 1283; the oath par ma foi (12th century) gave ma foi (late 16th century).[5][2]

The sense “trust in someone's word” is in Chrétien de Troyes (1180–91), with ajouter foi (1541) and digne de foi.[5][2] Calvin (1539) uses la vraye Foy Chrestienne for the doctrine itself, Corneille has article de foi (1632), and Madame de Staël (1817) extends it to any firm conviction.[5] Proverbial phrases include la foi du charbonnier “simple faith” and n'avoir ni foi ni loi (1667, Boileau).[4][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Feit “faith in God”, Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1100 – A pledge of loyalty, Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • 1181–1186 – Bone foi, Gace Brulé.[5]
  • 1283 – Male foi, faire foi, Beaumanoir.[5][2]
  • 1539 – The Christian doctrine, Calvin.[5]
  • 1632 – Article de foi, Corneille.[5]
  • 1667 – N'avoir ni foi ni loi, Boileau.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. faith, religious belief: avoir la foi, perdre la foi, profession de foi.[8][1]
  2. Trust, confidence: avoir foi en quelqu'un, ajouter foi à, to believe, digne de foi, trustworthy.[2][1]
  3. Bonne foi, mauvaise foi: good faith, bad faith: être de bonne foi.[2][1]
  4. (dated) A pledge, word: sur la foi de, on the strength of, faire foi, to be authentic evidence, (feudalism) fealty: foi et hommage.[2][8]
  5. Ma foi: well, indeed: ma foi oui.[8][2]
  6. Sans foi ni loi: without scruples.[1][4]

Word family

  • féal
  • fidèle
  • fiancer
  • confiance
  • perfide
  • Latin fidēs

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 503a
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF