fool English · revision 6162

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fuːl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|silly person}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=la follis}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The silly person is Middle English fol, [[bor|fro|fol|t=madman, idiot, jester]] (modern French fou “mad”),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from Late Latin [[m|la-lat|follis]],^(MWU 2024) from [[la|follis|t=bellows, leather bag]], which in late Vulgar Latin came to mean a windbag, an empty-headed person,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) from PIE [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|t=to blow, swell]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A silly, stupid or ignorant person: probably about 1200 in Barnhart, the early 13th century in Etymonline, about 1275 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) As an adjective it meant sinful or lecherous at first (about 1200), and foolish from the mid-13th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins compares the English windbag, used of an empty talker since the early 19th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The professional jester is from about 1370,^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) and the Feast of Fools, a medieval burlesque festival, from about 1320.^(OED 1989) One who is made a fool of, a dupe, is from about 1440.^(OED 1989) Sixteenth-century proverbs such as ''a fool and his money are soon parted'' show how aware people were of coming to grief through folly.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb meant to be foolish in the mid-14th century, to make a fool of someone from the 1590s (Shakespeare's ''1 Henry IV'', 1596), and to cheat from the 1640s;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''fool around'', to pass time idly, is from 1875, and to have sexual adventures from the 1970s.^(Etymonline) [[foolhardy|alt=Foolhardy]] is from before 1250,^(Barnhart 1988) and [[foolscap]], the paper, once bore a watermark of a fool's cap.^(Hoad 1986) The adjective, as in ''a fool idea'', is now considered American colloquial.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a silly person.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1250 – foolhardy.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1320 – Feast of Fools.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1370 – a professional jester.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1596 – to make a fool of, in Shakespeare.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1875 – to fool around.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who lacks sense or judgment.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who has been tricked or made to look ridiculous; a [[dupe]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A professional [[jester]] in a royal or noble household.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person with a great liking for something: ''a fool for chocolate''.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To trick or [[deceive]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To act in a silly or playful way; to joke.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(fool around)'' To idle; also to have casual sexual relations.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(informal, chiefly US)'' Foolish, silly.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[foolery]]

+ * [[foolhardy]]

+ * [[foolish]]

+ * [[foolproof]]

+ * [[foolscap]]

+ * [[April fool]]

+ * [[fool's gold]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|fruit dessert}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1598}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The dessert is perhaps a transferred use of [[fool#1]].^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1598, in a sense the OED does not define precisely.^(OED 1989) At first it was a confection of clotted cream or a custard trifle.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It now means a purée of fruit, especially gooseberries, mixed with cream or custard and served cold.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1598 – a cream confection.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A cold dessert of puréed fruit mixed with [[cream]] or [[custard]]: ''gooseberry fool''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[follicle]]

+ * [[folly]]

+ * [[bellows]]

+ * [[ball]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}