*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of foe

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

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 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.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
adj

Hostile.

noun

An enemy.

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

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”)).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*peyḱ-",
        "id": "hostile"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "fo",
        "4": "",
        "5": "foe; hostile"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English fo (“foe; hostile”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "ġefāh",
        "4": "",
        "5": "enemy"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English ġefāh (“enemy”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*faih"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *faih"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*faihaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *faihaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ofs",
        "2": "fāch",
        "3": "",
        "4": "punishable"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Frisian fāch (“punishable”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gmh",
        "2": "gevēch",
        "3": "",
        "4": "feuder"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle High German gevēch (“feuder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*peyḱ-",
        "4": "*peyk/ḱ-",
        "5": "to hate, be hostile",
        "id": "hostile"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *peyk/ḱ- (“to hate, be hostile”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "mga",
        "2": "óech",
        "3": "",
        "4": "enemy, fiend"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Irish óech (“enemy, fiend”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "pìktas",
        "3": "",
        "4": "evil"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian pi̇̀ktas (“evil”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "fo",
      "fo#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "yfoh",
      "yfoh#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "yvo",
      "yvo#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "ifa",
      "ifa#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "ġefāh",
      "gefah#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "fāh",
      "fah#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*faih",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/faih"
    ],
    [
      "*faihaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/faihaz"
    ],
    [
      "fāch",
      "fach#Old_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "gevēch",
      "gevech#Middle_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "*peyk/ḱ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/peyḱ-#Proto-Indo-European:_hostile"
    ],
    [
      "óech",
      "óech#Middle_Irish"
    ],
    [
      "pi̇̀ktas",
      "piktas#Lithuanian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Hostile."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
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    },
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        "An enemy."
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A unit of energy equal to 10⁴⁴ joules.

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

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.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "+ (unit)"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "[ten to the power of] fifty-one ergs",
        "addl": "due to equalling 10⁵¹ ergs; coined by Gerald Brown of Stony Brook University in his work with Hans Bethe"
      },
      "expansion": "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"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "fifty-one",
      "fifty-one#English"
    ],
    [
      "erg",
      "erg#English"
    ],
    [
      "erg",
      "erg"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "glosses": [
        "A unit of energy equal to 10⁴⁴ joules."
      ],
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}

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 foe →

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-Zm9l