*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of fouse

From Middle English fousen, fusen, from Old English fȳsan (“to hasten”), from Proto-West Germanic *funsijan (“to make ready”). Doublet of feeze, fease, and faze.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

To tumble, disarrange, rumple. · To soil, dirty. · To fade.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English fousen, fusen, from Old English fȳsan (“to hasten”), from Proto-West Germanic *funsijan (“to make ready”). Doublet of feeze, fease, and faze.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionfousenenm
  • Inherited-form mentionfȳsanang · to hasten
  • Inherited-form mention*funsijangmw-pro · to make ready
  • Doublet mentionfeezeen
  • Doublet mentionfeaseen
  • Doublet mentionfazeen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "fousen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English fousen"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "fȳsan",
        "t": "to hasten"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English fȳsan (“to hasten”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*funsijan",
        "t": "to make ready"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *funsijan (“to make ready”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "feeze",
        "3": "fease",
        "4": "faze"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of feeze, fease, and faze"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "fousen",
      "fousen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fusen",
      "fusen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fȳsan",
      "fysan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*funsijan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/funsijan"
    ],
    [
      "feeze",
      "feeze#English"
    ],
    [
      "fease",
      "fease#English"
    ],
    [
      "faze",
      "faze#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To tumble, disarrange, rumple.",
        "To soil, dirty.",
        "To fade."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "recordId": "963b80ce18101954d3eb81de977ec53227934aef9854efd03f2e1153de285429",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a7d5f29a1bcbd0bccb7ab9d42b9e55d95ff02d2eff4d2a5c4b59176ad96b85fb",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 3889118
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for fouse →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Zm91c2U