Foe

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fəʊ/,
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophones: faux

Middle English fo 'foe; hostile', from earlier ifo 'foe', from Old English ġefāh 'enemy', from fāh 'hostile', from Proto-Germanic *faihaz (cf. Old Frisian fāch 'punishable', Middle High German gevēch 'feuder'), from Proto-Indo-European *peik/k̑- 'to hate, be hostile' (cf. Middle Irish oech 'enemy, fiend', Latin piget 'he is annoying', Lithuanian piktas ‘evil’, Albanian pis ‘dirty, scoundrel’).

Full definition of foe

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Hostile.
• 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, vol. 1 ch. 23:he, I say, could passe into Affrike onely with two simple ships or small barkes, to commit himselfe in a strange and foe countrie, to engage his person, under the power of a barbarous King ...

Noun

1. An enemy.
• 2013-06-29, Travels and travails, Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

Synonyms

• (enemy) adversary, enemy, opponent

Antonyms

• (enemy) ally, friend

An acronym of fifty-one ergs

Noun

1. A unit of energy equal to 10⁴⁴ joules.

Anagrams

• EOF