FromMiddle Englishfo(“foe; hostile”), from earlierifo(“foe”), fromOld Englishġefāh(“enemy”), fromfāh(“hostile”), fromProto-West Germanic*faih, fromProto-Germanic*faihaz (compareOld Frisianfāch(“punishable”),Middle High Germangevēch(“feuder”)), fromProto-Indo-European*peyk/ḱ-(“to hate, be hostile”) (compareMiddle Irishóech(“enemy, fiend”),Lithuanianpi̇̀ktas(“evil”)).
foe
- (obsolete)Hostile.
- , 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 andfoe countrie, to engage his person, under the power of a barbarous King […].
foe (pluralfoes)
- Anenemy.
2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, inThe Economist, volume407, number8842, page55: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 itsfoes’ glee.
Acronym of[ten to the power of]fifty-oneergs, due to equalling 1051ergs; coined by Gerald Brown of Stony Brook University in his work with Hans Bethe.
foe (pluralfoes)
- A unit of energy equal to 1044joules.
foe
- Alternative spelling offor
FromEnglishbee.
foe
- bee
foe
- Alternative form offo
foe
- Obsolete spelling offoi.
