foil English · revision 39727

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fɔɪl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|thwart}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c1330, Arthour and Merlin|origins=la fullō}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|foilen|t=to trample]], [[bor|fro|fouler|t=to full cloth, trample, oppress]],^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) of which the English form is an irregular representation,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps through an Anglo-Norman variant;^(SOED 2002)^(Ayto 2005) The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records the verb in Anglo-Norman from 1121–25, meaning to full cloth, to trample and to oppress.^(AND) The French verb comes from [[la-vul|*fullō|t=to clean cloth]] (by treading on it),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) formed on [[m|la|fullō|t=fuller]], a word of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005) The OED notes that the English spelling “foyle” would normally represent [[m|fro|fouillier|t=to dig, root]], and that the cause of this irregularity has not been found.^(OED 2026) Weekley thought the verb was a blend of ''fouler'' with [[m|fr|affoler|t=to befool]].^(Weekley 1921) [[full|alt=Full]], to thicken cloth, and [[fuller]] are from the same source.^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To trample under foot: about 1330, in ''Arthour and Merlin'',^(OED 2026) and before 1300 in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline gives about 1300, in the hunting sense of spoiling a trace or scent by running over it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026) which gave the noun ''foil'', the track of a hunted animal (1575), as in ''run the foil''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The sense "to overthrow, defeat an enemy" is recorded from 1548 and "to frustrate an attempt or baffle a person" from before 1564,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and a noun meaning a repulse or setback followed in the late 15th century.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In wrestling a ''foil'' was a throw that did not result in a flat fall (1553–1721).^(OED 2026) Influenced by [[foul]] and [[defile]], the verb also meant to defile or dishonour in late Middle English.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The cry ''Foiled again!'' is recorded from 1847.^(Etymonline) 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.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – to spoil a scent by running over it.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1330 – to trample down.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1380 – to defile (now dialect).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1478 – noun: a repulse, defeat.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1548 – to defeat an opponent.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * a1564 – to frustrate, baffle.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1575 – noun: the track of a hunted animal.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1847 – ''Foiled again!''^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[prevent]] someone from achieving an aim; to [[thwart]] or frustrate a plan: ''Police foiled the robbery.''^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(hunting)'' Of an animal: to cross or retrace its track so as to spoil the [[scent]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To trample.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic)'' A setback or defeat.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(hunting)'' The track or scent of a hunted animal.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[foilable]]

+ * [[unfoiled]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|thin sheet of metal}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c1325, foyle|origins=la folium}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The metal leaf is [[inh|enm|foile]],^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|foil|t=leaf; sheet of metal]] (masculine) and [[m|fro|foille]] (feminine), modern French [[m|fr|feuille]].^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The masculine comes from [[m|la|folium|t=leaf]], and the feminine from its plural [[m|la|folia]], taken as a feminine singular;^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) the feminine has replaced the masculine in all the modern Romance languages except in Italian [[m|it|foglio]], a leaf of a book.^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) The Latin word is cognate with [[grc|φύλλον|tr=phúllon|t=leaf]],^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) and Etymonline and the AHD take it from the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|t=to thrive, bloom]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) which, according to Ayto, also gave [[blade]], [[bloom]], [[blossom]] and [[flower]].^(Ayto 2005) It is the second element of [[trefoil]], [[cinquefoil]] and [[milfoil]].^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A very thin sheet of metal: about 1325, spelled ''foyle'', in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) early 14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, in the OED.^(OED 2026) The sense "leaf of a plant" is recorded from about 1420, but it had died out by about 1500.^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th century jewellers placed a thin leaf of metal under a precious stone to make it shine more brightly,^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) which led to the figurative sense, a person or thing that sets off another by contrast (1580s).^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005)^(Weekley 1921) A sheet of metal behind the glass of a mirror was a ''foil'' from before 1582.^(OED 2026) In architecture the word names, from 1835, one of the small arcs between the cusps of Gothic tracery,^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) and in heraldry the representation of a leaf from 1562.^(OED 2026) Metal foil as a wrapping for food is recorded from 1897 in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and 1946 in the OED.^(OED 2026) Since the mid-20th century ''foil'' has also been a short form of [[hydrofoil]].^(SOED 2002) The verb, to back or cover with foil, dates from 1611,^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and "to set off by contrast" from 1856, in Ruskin.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1325 – ''foyle'', thin sheet of metal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1420 – a leaf of a plant (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1562 – (heraldry) the representation of a leaf.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1580s – one who sets off another by contrast.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1611 – verb: to back with foil.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1835 – (architecture) a small arc in tracery.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1897 – metal foil for wrapping food.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Metal beaten or rolled into a very thin, flexible sheet: ''Wrap the fish in foil before baking.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A person or thing that sets off another by [[contrast]]: ''The calm sister was a perfect foil to her restless brother.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+ # A thin leaf of metal placed behind a [[gem]] or the glass of a [[mirror]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(architecture)'' A small arc or lobe between the cusps in [[tracery]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # A [[hydrofoil]].^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To back or cover with foil.^(MWU 2024)

+ # To set off by contrast.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tinfoil]]

+ * [[trefoil]]

+ * [[quatrefoil]]

+ * [[cinquefoil]]

+ * [[hydrofoil]]

+ * [[airfoil]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|fencing sword}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1594, Thomas Nashe}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The sword is of uncertain origin.^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(Ayto 2005) It is usually taken from the verb ''foil'' in the sense of a weapon with its point blunted or made harmless,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)^(OED 2026) but the OED objects that the verb does not seem to have meant "to blunt".^(OED 2026) 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.^(OED 2026) Etymonline and Ayto allow a transferred use of ''foil'' meaning a leaf,^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005) and Weekley thought it the same word, since French [[m|fr|feuille]] is still used for the blade of a saw,^(Weekley 1921) but the OED finds no evidence for this.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==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''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plural ''foils'' named the sport of fencing with these weapons from 1600, especially in the phrase “at foils”,^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) and a verb, to thrust with a foil, is recorded in the same year.^(OED 2026) In modern fencing the foil is one of three weapons, with a flexible blade of rectangular section, and hits count only on the trunk.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1594 – a light fencing sword.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1600 – ''foils'', fencing; the verb, to thrust with a foil.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A light, flexible [[fencing]] [[sword]] with a button on its point to prevent injury.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(in plural)'' The sport of fencing with such swords.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[foilist]]

+ * [[foilsman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[multifoil]]

+ * [[foliage]]

+ * [[folio]]

+ * [[fuller]]

+ * [[full]]

+ * [[defile]]

+ * [[blade]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}