adj · noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
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
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foul
/faʊl/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -aʊl
fou'əl
/ˈfaʊ.əl/
rhymes with -aʊəl
homophone: foul
CMU ARPABET:F AW1 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
foul
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
Examples
Paradise Lost, John Milton Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view / Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause / Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State / Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off / From their Creator, and transgress his Will / For one restraint, Lords of the World besides? / Who first seduc'd them to that fowl revolt?
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any bird.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A bird hunted or kept for food, grouped into landfowl (order Galliformes), also called gamefowl, and waterfowl (order Anseriformes: ducks, geese, swans, etc.), which together form the clade Galloanserae.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To hunt fowl.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
We took our guns and went fowling.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To use or traverse in pursuit of fowls.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
a domesticated gallinaceous bird thought to be descended from the red jungle fowl
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: domestic fowl, poultry
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: gallinaceous bird, gallinacean
Narrower terms: Dorking, Plymouth Rock, Cornish, Cornish fowl, Rock Cornish, game fowl, cochin, cochin china, chicken, Gallus gallus, bantam, turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, guinea fowl, guinea, Numida meleagris
7
noun
Meaning 7
the flesh of a bird or fowl (wild or domestic) used as food
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bird
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: meat
Narrower terms: poultry, wildfowl
8
verb
Meaning 8
hunt fowl in the forest
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hunt, run, hunt down, track down
Narrower terms: grouse
9
verb
Meaning 9
hunt fowl
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hunt, run, hunt down, track down
History
Etymology
From Middle English foul, foghel, fowel, fowele, from Old English fugol (“bird”), from Proto-West Germanic *fugl, from Proto-Germanic *fuglaz, dissimilated variant of *fluglaz (compare Old English flugol ‘fleeing’, Mercian fluglas heofun ‘birds of the air’), from *fleuganą (“to fly”). Cognate with West Frisian fûgel, Low German Vagel, Dutch vogel, German Vogel, Swedish fågel, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk fugl. Doublet of voël. More at fly.
Across languages
Translations
54 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Dutch:
stuk pluimvee
— bird of the order Galliformes
Finnish:
kanalintu
— bird of the order Galliformes
French:
volaille
— bird of the order Galliformes
German:
Stück Federvieh
— bird of the order Galliformes
German:
Geflügel
— bird of the order Galliformes
Greek:
πουλερικό
(poulerikó)
— bird of the order Galliformes
Hungarian:
baromfi
— bird of the order Galliformes
Hungarian:
szárnyas
— bird of the order Galliformes
Indonesian:
ayam
— bird of the order Galliformes
Italian:
pollame
— bird of the order Galliformes
Javanese:
pitik
— bird of the order Galliformes
Old Javanese:
pitik
— bird of the order Galliformes
Kodava:
ಕೋಳಿ
(kōḷi)
— bird of the order Galliformes
Latvian:
mājputns
— bird of the order Galliformes
Lithuanian:
naminis paukštis
— bird of the order Galliformes
Neapolitan:
pollo
— bird of the order Galliformes
Norwegian:
fjærfe
— bird of the order Galliformes
Occitan:
polalha
— bird of the order Galliformes
Occitan:
volalha
— bird of the order Galliformes
Persian:
ماکیان
(mâkiyân)
— bird of the order Galliformes
Polish:
drób
— bird of the order Galliformes
Portuguese:
galiforme
— bird of the order Galliformes
Russian:
дома́шняя пти́ца
(domášnjaja ptíca)
— bird of the order Galliformes
Lower Sorbian:
pjerina
— bird of the order Galliformes
Spanish:
ave
— bird of the order Galliformes
Turkish:
kümes hayvanı
— bird of the order Galliformes
Ottoman Turkish:
طاوق
(tavuk)
— bird of the order Galliformes
Ottoman Turkish:
مرغ
(mürg)
— bird of the order Galliformes
Volapük:
gok
— bird of the order Galliformes
Dutch:
gevogelte
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Finnish:
riistalintu
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Finnish:
siipikarja
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
French:
volaille
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
German:
Geflügel
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Greek:
πουλερικό
(poulerikó)
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Hungarian:
szárnyas
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Hungarian:
víziszárnyas
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Icelandic:
fiðurfé
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Irish:
éanlaith
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Italian:
volatile
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Macedonian:
живина
(živina)
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Polish:
ptactwo
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Portuguese:
ave de criação/corte
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Russian:
перна́тая дичь
(pernátaja dičʹ)
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Slovak:
hydina
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Slovak:
hyd
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Lower Sorbian:
pjerina
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Spanish:
ave
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Turkish:
kümes hayvanı
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Ottoman Turkish:
طاوق
(tavuk)
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
Ottoman Turkish:
مرغ
(mürg)
— birds which are hunted or kept for food
