adj
Meaning 1
Hostile.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
foe
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /fəʊ/
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General-American: /foʊ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -əʊ
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homophone: faux
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homophone: pho (one pronunciaton)
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homophone: fow (toe–tow merger)
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CMU ARPABET: F OW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
Initialism of Friends of the Earth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
Initialism of Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A surname from German.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
An enemy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A unit of energy equal to 1044 joules.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
Initialism of freedom of expression.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
Initialism of forces of evil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a soldier must be prepared to kill his enemies
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: enemy, foeman, opposition
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: adversary, antagonist, opponent, opposer, resister
Narrower terms: besieger
noun
Meaning 10
a personal enemy
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- they had been political foes for years
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: enemy
Antonyms: friend
Broader terms: rival, challenger, competitor, competition, contender
Narrower terms: mortal enemy
History
Etymology
From Middle English fo (“foe; hostile”), from earlier yfoh, yvo, ifa (“foe”), from Old English ġefāh (“enemy”), from fāh (“hostile”), from Proto-West Germanic *faih, from Proto-Germanic *faihaz (compare Old Frisian fāch (“punishable”), Middle High German gevēch (“feuder”)), from Proto-Indo-European *peyk/ḱ- (“to hate, be hostile”) (compare Middle Irish óech (“enemy, fiend”), Lithuanian pi̇̀ktas (“evil”)).
Acronym of [ten to the power of] fifty-one ergs, due to equalling 1051 ergs; coined by Gerald Brown of Stony Brook University in his work with Hans Bethe.
Across languages
Translations
6 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Danish: fjendtlig — hostile
- German: gegnerisch — hostile
- German: feindlich — hostile
- Hungarian: ellenséges — hostile
- Spanish: rival — hostile
- Spanish: inimicísimo (disused) — hostile