▪ I. foe
obs. form of few.
▪ II. foe, a. and n.
(fəʊ)
Forms: adj. 1 fáh, fáᵹ, 2–7 (see forms of the n.); n. sing. 1 ᵹefá, 2–3 ifa, ifo, ivo, 2–6 fa(a, 3 south. va, (4 fau), 3–6 fo(o, 3 south. vo, (3 foa), 4–5 Sc. fai, fay, 8–9 Sc. fae, 5– foe. pl. α. weak forms: 1 ᵹefán, 2–3 ifan, ifon, ivon, 3 fan, foan, south. voan, (feon), 4–7 fon(e, foon(e, 4 south. von, 6 foen, 5–6 foyn. β. strong forms: 4–5 fa(a)s, faes, fais, fase, 4–6 fois, foo(e)s, 5 fos(e, (5 fosse, 6 fowys, Sc. feys), 8–9 Sc. faes, 4– foes.
[repr. two distinct. OE. words: (1) the simple fáh, fáᵹ adj. (:—OTeut. *faiho-); (2) the compound ᵹefá n. (wk. masc.), originally an absolute use of *ᵹefáh adj. (not recorded as such) = OHG. gifêh at feud, odious (MHG. gevêch, gevê):—OTeut. *ga-faiho-, where the prefix imports the notion of ‘mutually’ (see y-). As in many other ns., the prefix ᵹe-, i-, fell away in early ME., so that the compound n. and the absolute use of the simple adj. became coincident.
The Teut. adj. *faiho- (represented only in W.Ger.) is referred to the Aryan root *peiq- poiq- piq-, whence OIrish oech enemy (:—poiqos, Gr. πικρός bitter, Lith. pìkta-s angry. The current statement that the word is etymologically akin to fiend depends on the doubtful hypothesis that the root *peiq- is an extension of *pei- to hate.]
† A. adj. Obs. (In 16–17th c., the adjectival use is to be regarded as a new development from the n., not as a continuation of the OE. adj.)
1. At feud with; hostile, inimical (to).
Beowulf 811 He wæs faᵹ wið god. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 231 Frend oðer fend, hold oðer fá. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxvii. 164 Fortown forsyd hyr to be Fa. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 91 So fast to frende, so foe to few, so good to euery wight. 1603 Florio Montaigne i. xlvii. 154 An enemie-country and foe-land. |
2. Hindering progress, rough, rugged.
c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1430 Bitwene a flosche in þat fryth & a foo cragge. |
B. n. (Now somewhat
rhetorical; superseded in general use by
enemy.)
1. In early use, an adversary in deadly feud or mortal combat; now in wider sense, one who hates and seeks to injure another; a personal enemy.
a 1000 Laws ælfred ii. (Thorpe) xlii, Gif he mæᵹnes hæbbe þæt he his ᵹefan beride. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 87 God heom aredde wið heore ifan and heom fordude. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 219 Nu is euerihc man ifo þare he solde fren be. a 1225 Ancr. R. 274 Þauh þi foa hurte þe oðe vet. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1714 Moni man..Thurh belde worde..Deth his ivo for arehwe swete. a 1300 Cursor M. 1593 (Cott.) Hijs faas to bring al o lijf. 1340 Ayenb. 255 He ualþ liȝtliche ine þe honden of his uon. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 208 Robert the bruce, that wes his fa. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 223 And freyndes fynde I foyn. 1526 Tindale Matt. x. 36 A mannes fooes shalbe they of his owne housholde. 1625 Milton Death Fair Infant 66 To slake his wrath whom sin hath made our foe. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 177 Embrace, embrace, my sons! be foes no more! 1787 Burns Tam Samson's Elegy vii, Your mortal fae is now awa', Tam Samson's dead! 1823 Byron Juan viii. lxx, He..could crack His jest alike in face of friend or foe. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1083 He makes no friend who never made a foe. |
b. our foe, the arch foe: the Devil;
= enemy 1 b.
a 1225 Ancr. R. 62 Vre vo, þe weorreur of helle. c 1366 Chaucer A.B.C. 84 Lat not our alder foo make his bobance. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 259 The arch foe subdu'd Or Captive drag'd in Chains. |
c. In a weaker sense: An adversary, antagonist, opponent.
1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 776 The Groom..watches with a Trip his Foe to foil. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. 133 Made happy that the foe the prize hath won. |
d. transf. and
fig. (
a) One who feels unfriendly or acts in opposition or prejudicially
to (some thing), an ill-wisher; (
b) Anything that harms or is likely to injure.
(a) 1607 Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 176 A Foe to' th' publike Weale. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 460 A gloomy Clerk, Sworn foe to Myst'ry, yet divinely dark. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab ix. 176 Death is no foe to virtue. 1859 Tennyson Guinevere 508, I hold that man the worst of public foes Who [etc.]. |
(b) c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 33 Crist him hadde warned togenes þre fon, synne..sor and deað. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xx. 65 Myrthe is to me become a very foo. 1607 Shakes. Timon ii. ii. 241 That thought is Bounties Foe. 1807 Crabbe Village ii. 192 Grief is a foe, expel him then thy soul. |
2. One belonging to a hostile army or nation, an enemy in battle or war.
c 1205 Lay. 215 Inne þane fehte his feon heo him binomen. 1375 Barbour Bruce xviii. 228 Deliuerit of sic felloune a faa. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 54 Foly it was..Succour to sek of thar alde mortale fa. 1591 Spenser Vis. Bellay 66 A barbarous troupe of clownish fone. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 437 Before the Spear Of despicable foes. 1704 Addison Poems, Campaign, Give thy brave foes their due. 1838 Thirlwall Greece III. 251 Abundant opportunities of annoying their hereditary foes in the land of their fathers. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid ii. 71 Trojans eye me in wrath, and demand my life as a foe! |
3. collect. A hostile force;
= enemy 3.
1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. iv. 3 All my followers, to the eager foe Turne back, and flye. 1633 Massinger Guardian i. i, For a flying foe, Discreet and provident conquerors build up A bridge of gold. 1794 Burns On the Seas & Far Away, He's on the seas to meet the foe. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xxv, Whispering with white lips—‘The foe! they come! they come!’ 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 47 Long after London had ceased to fear a foreign foe. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
foe-god;
foe-reaped,
foe-subduing adjs.;
foe-like,
adj. and
adv.; also
† foe-hearted a., having the heart of a foe, hostile;
† foe-Troy a. (
nonce-wd.), hostile to Troy.
1870 Rossetti Eden-Bower 53 Is not the *foe-God weak as the foeman When love grows hate in the heart of a woman? |
1598 Rowlands Betraying Christ 6 Now *foe⁓harted, trecherous of intent. |
1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. lxiii. 57 These *folike freendes. 1638 G. Sandys Paraphr. Lament. ii. 13 He..Foe-like hath bent his Bow. |
1812 Byron Curse Minerva 301 The rifled mansion, and the *foe-reap'd field. |
1590 T. Watson Eclog. Death Sir F. Walsingham 300 Poems (Arb.) 169 Where arms are vsd by *foe-subduing powers. |
1615 Chapman Odyss. xiv. 332 Till the Thunderer drew Our Forces out in his *foe-Troy decrees. |
▪ III. † foe, v. Obs. [f. prec. n.] trans. a. To set at enmity.
b. To make or treat as a foe or enemy.
c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 209 Þe deuel..fode þe forme man wið god. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. xi. 6 Sith in his powre she was to foe or frend. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. x. lv. (1612) 245 So far was she from fooing her that sought her life and Rayne. |