foil
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine.
The literary sense is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brilliantly.
Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.
Noun
[edit]foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)
- A very thin sheet of metal.
- (chiefly uncountable) Thin aluminium/aluminum (or, formerly, tin) used for wrapping food.
- wrap the sandwich up in foil
- A thin layer of metal put between a jewel and its setting to make it seem more brilliant.
- (authorship, figuratively) In literature, theatre/theater, etc., a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character and who usually acts as an opponent or antagonist, but can also serve as the sidekick of the protagonist.
- 2022 December 20, Leigh Monson, “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish review: Antonio Banderas leads the best film yet in the Shrek franchise”, in AV Club[1]:
- As Puss comes to realize his legendary status is not a substitute for interpersonal connection, his interactions with Kitty and the therapy dog start to take on a surprising amount of weight, while Goldilocks serves as a well-realized foil who has more in common with Puss that is at first apparent.
- (figuratively) Anything that acts by contrast to emphasise the characteristics of something.
- a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
- As she a black silk cap on him begun / To set, for foil of his milk-white to serve.
- 1725-1726, William Broome, The Odyssey
- Hector has also a foil to set regard
- (fencing) A very thin sword with a blunted (or foiled) tip
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt not.
- 1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece
- Socrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a sword.
- A thin, transparent plastic material on which marks are made and projected for the purposes of presentation. See transparency.
- A premium trading card with a glossy finish.
- 2016, Pojo's Unofficial Big Book of Pokémon, Triumph Books:
- I personally would collect all the foils from Base Set before this one, but the market is what the market is.
- (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf.
- (hydrodynamics, nautical) Clipping of hydrofoil.
- (aerodynamics, aviation) Clipping of aerofoil/airfoil.
Synonyms
[edit]- (thin aluminium/aluminum): aluminium foil, silver foil, silver paper, tin foil
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
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Verb
[edit]foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
- (transitive) To cover or wrap with foil.
- (nautical) Clipping of hydrofoil.
Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle English foilen (“spoil a scent trail by crossing it”), from Old French fouler (“tread on, trample”), ultimately from Latin fullō (“I trample, I full”).
Verb
[edit]foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
- To prevent (something) from being accomplished.
- They foiled my plans.
- To prevent (someone) from accomplishing something.
- I was foiled by my superior
- 1606, C[aius, i.e., Gaius] Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Historie of Flavius Vespatianus Augustus”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of Twelve Cæsars Emperours of Rome. […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes and George Snowdon] for Matthew Lownes, →OCLC, section 5, page 243:
- And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the battailes joyned, tvvo Ægles had a conflict and bickered together in all their fights: and vvhen the one of them was foyled and overcome, a third came at the very inſtant from the ſunne riſing and chaſed the Victreſſe avvay.
- 1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- And by mortal man at length am foil'd.
- 1812, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, stanza LV:
- her long locks that foil the painter's power
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 28, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- Perhaps you think you love me now but it is only for an instant, and because you are foiled.
- 2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport[2]:
- First, former Toffee Mikel Arteta sent Walcott racing clear but instead of shooting he squared towards Ramsey, who was foiled by Tony Hibbert.
- 2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer[3]:
- Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill. But, they say, the nature of the threat and the terrorists’ increasing use of low-tech, asymmetrical tactics such as hire vehicles and knives, make it all but impossible to stop every assault.
- To blunt; to dull; to spoil.
- 1711 August 11 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “TUESDAY, July 31, 1711”, in The Spectator, number (please specify the issue number); republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volumes (please either specify the issue number or |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
- they foil the scent of one another.
- (obsolete) To tread underfoot; to trample.
- 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes:
- King Richard […] caused the ensigns of Leopold to be pulled down and foiled underfoot.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XXXIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Whom he did all to pieces breake and foyle, / In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle.
Synonyms
[edit]- (prevent from being accomplished): put the kibosh on, scupper, thwart
Translations
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Noun
[edit]foil (plural foils)
- Failure when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage.
- 1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
- Fame is no plant that grows on mortal foil
- 1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis:
- Nor e'er was fate so near a foil.
- One of the incorrect answers presented in a multiple-choice test.
Etymology 3
[edit]Noun
[edit]foil (plural foils)
- (hunting) The track of an animal.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter IV, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII:
- […] but after giving her a dodge, here's another b— follows me upon the foil.
Synonyms
[edit]- (track of an animal): spoor
Translations
[edit]Etymology 4
[edit]From mnemonic acronym FOIL (“First Outside Inside Last”).
Verb
[edit]foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
- (mathematics) To expand a product of two or more algebraic expressions, typically binomials.
Translations
[edit]Etymology 5
[edit]See file.
Verb
[edit]foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
Etymology 6
[edit]Noun
[edit]foil (plural foils)
- (architecture) A small arc in the tracery of a window, etc.
Related terms
[edit]References
[edit]Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “foil”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
[edit]Old French
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin folium. Compare fueille, from the plural of folium, folia.
Noun
[edit]foil oblique singular, m (oblique plural fouz or foilz, nominative singular fouz or foilz, nominative plural foil)
- leaf (green appendage of a plant which photosynthesizes)
Old Irish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Celtic *uɸolexs, from *uɸo- (“under”) *leg- (“to lie”). Cognate with Welsh gwâl (“lair, pigsty”).[1]
Noun
[edit]foil f (genitive folach)
Inflection
[edit]Feminine g-stem | |||
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Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | foil | folaigL | folaig |
Vocative | foil | folaigL | foilgea |
Accusative | folaigN | folaigL | foilgea |
Genitive | folach | folach | folachN |
Dative | folaigL | foilgib | foilgib |
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
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Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]Mutation
[edit]Old Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
foil | ḟoil | foil pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/ |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
References
[edit]- ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*ufo-leg-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 398
Further reading
[edit]- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 fail, foil”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 foil, fail”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/ɔɪl
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- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰleh₃-
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