fon

See also: Appendix:Variations of "fon"

Languages (24)

Catalan • Cornish • French • Gothic • Haitian Creole • Hungarian • Indonesian • Italian • Middle English • Old English • Old Frisian • Old High German • Old Irish • Old Saxon • Polish • Romanian • Saterland Frisian • Scottish Gaelic • Serbo-Croatian • Spanish • Sranan Tongo • Vilamovian

Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

fon

(international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Fon.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English fonne (noun). More at fun.

Noun

fon (plural fons)

(obsolete) A fool or idiot.
- c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 65, lines 128–129:
  Delt he not lyke a fon?
  Delt he not lyke a daw?

Derived terms

fond

References

“fon”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

English Wikipedia has an article on:

fon

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɔːn/

Noun

fon (plural fons)

A chieftain or king of a region of Cameroon.
- 2008, Milton Krieger, Cameroon's Social Democratic Front, →ISBN, page 71:
  Province-wide, the latter part of the 1990s witnessed considerable efforts by the regime to organize and activate a bloc of such financially dependent fons in the North West Elite Association (NWELA), […]
- 2010, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon, →ISBN, page 53:
  In the early 1900s, the Bafut fought several wars with the German colonizers and their allies, ending in 1907 with the exile of the fon of that time.
- 2011, Society and Change in Bali Nyonga: Critical Perspectives, →ISBN, page 152:
  Biya's volte-face became apparent in July 1990 when he, as president of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) appointed Ganyonga and the fons of Mankon and Bafut into key positions of the party […]

Derived terms

fondom

Anagrams

NOF, OFN, ONF.

Catalan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfɔn]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”).

Noun

fon m (plural fons)

(linguistics) phone

Related terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fon

inflection of fondre:
1. third-person singular present indicative
2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fon (Valencia)

(literary) third-person singular preterite indicative of ésser
Synonym: fou (standard Catalan)
(colloquial) first-person singular preterite indicative of ésser
Synonym: fui (standard Catalan, literary Valencian)

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fon (Balearic)

first-person singular present indicative of fonar
Synonym: fono (standard Catalan)

Cornish

Pronunciation

(Late Cornish) IPA^(key): /foːn/
(Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): /fɔːn/

Noun

fon m (plural fons)

telephone, phone

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɔ̃/
Audio: (file)

Noun

fon m (uncountable)

Fon (language)

Gothic

Romanization

fōn

Romanization of 𐍆𐍉𐌽

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɔ̃/

Etymology 1

From French fond (“bottom”).

Noun

fon

bottom

Etymology 2

From French front (“forehead”).

Noun

fon

forehead

Hungarian

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *puna-. Cognates include Southern Mansi po̰n-, Erzya понамс (ponams) and Finnish punoa.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈfon]
Rhymes: -on

Verb

fon

(transitive) to spin (to make thread by twisting fibers)
Gyapjút fontak. ― They were spinning (or they spun) wool.
(transitive) to weave
kosarat fon ― to weave baskets
(transitive) to weave something (into something -ba/-be)
Gyöngyöket font a hajába. ― She wove pearls in her hair.
(transitive) to braid, plait (to interweave three or more strands, strips)
A haját copfba fonta. ― She plaited her hair. (literally, “She wove her hair into a plait.”)
(transitive) to twist (rope)
(transitive) to twine (arms)

Conjugation

conjugation of fon

Other forms	Verbal noun		Present part.	Past part.	Future part.	Adverbial participle		Causative
Click for archaic forms			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal
Indicative mood	Present	Indef.	fonok	fonsz	fon	fonunk	fontok	fonnak
		Def.	fonom	fonod	fonja	fonjuk	fonjátok	fonják
		2nd-p. o.	fonlak	―
	Past	Indef.	fontam	fontál	font	fontunk	fontatok	fontak
		Def.	fontam	fontad	fonta	fontuk	fontátok	fonták
		2nd-p. o.	fontalak	―
	Future		Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. fonni fog.
	Archaic Preterit	Indef.	fonék	fonál	fona	fonánk	fonátok	fonának
		Def.	fonám	fonád	foná	fonánk	fonátok	fonák
		2nd-p. o.	fonálak	―
	Archaic Past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. fon vala, font vala/volt.
	Archaic Future	Indef.	fonandok	fonandasz	fonand	fonandunk	fonandotok	fonandanak
		Def.	fonandom	fonandod	fonandja	fonandjuk	fonandjátok	fonandják
		2nd-p. o.	fonandalak	―
Conditional mood	Present	Indef.	fonnék	fonnál	fonna	fonnánk	fonnátok	fonnának
		Def.	fonnám	fonnád	fonná	fonnánk (or fonnók)	fonnátok	fonnák
		2nd-p. o.	fonnálak	―
	Past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. font volna
Subjunctive mood	Present	Indef.	fonjak	fonj or fonjál	fonjon	fonjunk	fonjatok	fonjanak
		Def.	fonjam	fond or fonjad	fonja	fonjuk	fonjátok	fonják
		2nd-p. o.	fonjalak	―
	(Archaic) Past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. font légyen
Infinitive	fonni		fonnom	fonnod	fonnia	fonnunk	fonnotok	fonniuk
Other forms	fonás		fonó	font or fonott	fonandó	fonva (fonván)
The archaic passive conjugation had the same -(t)at/-(t)et suffix as the causative, followed by -ik in the 3rd-person singular (and the concomitant changes in conditional and subjunctive mostly in the 1st- and 3rd-person singular like with other traditional -ik verbs).

potential conjugation of fon

Click for archaic forms			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal
Indicative mood	Present	Indef.	fonhatok	fonhatsz	fonhat	fonhatunk	fonhattok	fonhatnak
		Def.	fonhatom	fonhatod	fonhatja	fonhatjuk	fonhatjátok	fonhatják
		2nd-p. o.	fonhatlak	―
	Past	Indef.	fonhattam	fonhattál	fonhatott	fonhattunk	fonhattatok	fonhattak
		Def.	fonhattam	fonhattad	fonhatta	fonhattuk	fonhattátok	fonhatták
		2nd-p. o.	fonhattalak	―
	Archaic Preterit	Indef.	fonhaték	fonhatál	fonhata	fonhatánk	fonhatátok	fonhatának
		Def.	fonhatám	fonhatád	fonhatá	fonhatánk	fonhatátok	fonhaták
		2nd-p. o.	fonhatálak	―
	Archaic Past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala, e.g. fonhat vala, fonhatott vala/volt.
	Archaic Future	Indef.	fonhatandok or fonandhatok	fonhatandasz or fonandhatsz	fonhatand or fonandhat	fonhatandunk or fonandhatunk	fonhatandotok or fonandhattok	fonhatandanak or fonandhatnak
		Def.	fonhatandom or fonandhatom	fonhatandod or fonandhatod	fonhatandja or fonandhatja	fonhatandjuk or fonandhatjuk	fonhatandjátok or fonandhatjátok	fonhatandják or fonandhatják
		2nd-p. o.	fonhatandalak or fonandhatlak	―
Conditional mood	Present	Indef.	fonhatnék	fonhatnál	fonhatna	fonhatnánk	fonhatnátok	fonhatnának
		Def.	fonhatnám	fonhatnád	fonhatná	fonhatnánk (or fonhatnók)	fonhatnátok	fonhatnák
		2nd-p. o.	fonhatnálak	―
	Past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. fonhatott volna
Subjunctive mood	Present	Indef.	fonhassak	fonhass or fonhassál	fonhasson	fonhassunk	fonhassatok	fonhassanak
		Def.	fonhassam	fonhasd or fonhassad	fonhassa	fonhassuk	fonhassátok	fonhassák
		2nd-p. o.	fonhassalak	―
	(Archaic) Past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. fonhatott légyen
Inf.	(fonhatni)		(fonhatnom)	(fonhatnod)	(fonhatnia)	(fonhatnunk)	(fonhatnotok)	(fonhatniuk)
Positive adjective			fonható	Neg. adj.	fonhatatlan	Adv. part.	(fonhatva / fonhatván)

Derived terms

(With verbal prefixes):

Expressions

nincs kolbászból fonva a kerítés

References

^ Entry #812 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.
^ fon in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

fon

Wikipedia ^id

Etymology 1

From Dutch foon (“phone”), from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈfɔn]
Hyphenation: fon

Noun

fon (first-person possessive fonku, second-person possessive fonmu, third-person possessive fonnya)

(linguistics) phone, a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.

Etymology 2

From Dutch föhn (“foehn”), from German Föhn, from Vulgar Latin *faōnius, from Latin Favōnius (“Favonius”), a Roman wind god.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈfɔn]
Hyphenation: fon

Noun

fon (first-person possessive fonku, second-person possessive fonmu, third-person possessive fonnya)

(meteorology) foehn, a warm dry wind blowing down the north sides of the Alps, especially in Switzerland, and similar warm dry wind developing on the lee side of a mountain.

Alternative forms

fohn
Föhn

Etymology 3

From English font, from Middle French fonte, feminine past participle of verb fondre (“to melt”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈfɔn]
Hyphenation: fon

Noun

fon (first-person possessive fonku, second-person possessive fonmu, third-person possessive fonnya)

(computing, typography) font.

Alternative forms

fonta

Italian

Alternative forms

phon

Etymology

Originally a brandname, from German Fön, from Föhn, a warm, dry wind.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfɔn/
Rhymes: -ɔn
Hyphenation: fòn

Noun

fon m (invariable)

hairdryer, blowdryer
Synonym: asciugacapelli

Derived terms

fonare

Descendants

Sicilian: fonu

Middle English

Etymology 1

Unknown.

Verb

fon

Alternative form of fonnen

Etymology 2

Unknown.

Noun

fon

Alternative form of fonne

Adjective

fon

Alternative form of fonne

Etymology 3

From Old English ġefān, plural of ġefāh; equivalent to fo ‎ -en (plural suffix).

Noun

fon

plural of fo

Old English

Etymology

From earlier *fōhan [ˈfoː.xɑn], from Proto-West Germanic *fą̄han. Cognate with Old Frisian fā, Old Saxon fahan, Old Dutch fān, Old High German fāhan, Old Norse fá, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fahan).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /foːn/

Verb

fōn

to catch, capture; seize
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, "Gospel of Saint John", chapter 21, verse 3
  Ðā cwæð Simon Petrus tō him, Ic wylle gān on fixað. Þā cwǣdon hī tō him, And wē wyllað gān mid þē. And hī ēodon ūt, and ēodon on scip, and ne fēngon nān þing on þǣre nihte.
  Then said Simon Peter to them. I want to go fishing. Then they said to him, and we want to go with you. And they went out and went in a ship, and caught nothing in the night.
- c. 900, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History
  Hēr bēoþ oft fangene sēolas and hranas and mereswīn.
  Seals, whales and dolphins are often caught here.
(with tō) to take what is given, receive or accept what is offered
(with tō) to conquer, take over
- late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans
  Æfter him feng his sunu tō Persea rīċe Xersis.
  After him his son Xerxes took over the Persian Empire.
Hīe cwǣdon þæt hē wolde tō þǣre byrġ fōn.
They said he would take over the city.

Conjugation

Conjugation of fōn (strong class 7)

indicative mood	present tense	past tense
infinitive	fōn	fōnne
first person singular	fō	fēng
second person singular	fēhst	fēnge
third person singular	fēhþ	fēng
plural	fōþ	fēngon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	fō	fēnge
plural	fōn	fēngen
imperative
singular	fōh
plural	fōþ
participle	present	past
	fōnde	(ġe)fangen

Derived terms

Descendants

Middle English: fon, fangen
- Scots: fang
- English: fang

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fanē (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó. Cognates include Old Saxon fan and Old Dutch fan.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfon/

Preposition

fon

of

Descendants

North Frisian: foon
Saterland Frisian: fon
West Frisian: fan

References

Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old High German

Alternative forms

fana, fona

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *afanē, *fanē, *funē (“from”).

Preposition

fon

from

Descendants

Middle High German: von, vone
- Bavarian:
  Cimbrian: bon
  
  Mòcheno: va
- German: von
- Luxembourgish: vun
- Vilamovian: fon
- Yiddish: פֿון (fun)

Old Irish

Alternative forms

fond, fun, fund

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɸon], [ɸonʲ], [ɸon͈], [ɸon͈ʲ]

The quality of the n depends on the initial sound of the following word.

Article

fon

Univerbation of fo (“under”) ‎ in (“the (accusative singular masculine/feminine; dative singular all genders)”)
- c. 850-875, Turin Glosses and Scholia on St Mark, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 484–94, Tur. 110c
  Ba bés leusom do·bertis dá boc leu dochum tempuil, ⁊ no·léicthe indala n‑aí fon díthrub co pecad in popuil, ⁊ do·bertis maldachta foir, ⁊ n⟨o⟩·oircthe didiu and ó popul tar cenn a pecthae ind aile.
  It was a custom with them that two he-goats were brought by them to the temple, and one of the two of them was let go to the wilderness with the sin of the people, and curses were put upon him, and thereupon the other was slain there by the people for their sins.

Old Saxon

Preposition

fon

Alternative form of fan

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

fon

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Internationalism; compare English phon, French phone, German Phon, ultimately from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfɔn/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ɔn
Syllabification: fon

Noun

fon m inan

(acoustics) phon (logarithmic unit of loudness level for tones and complex sounds)

Declension

Declension of fon

	singular	plural
nominative	fon	fony
genitive	fonu	fonów
dative	fonowi	fonom
accusative	fon	fony
instrumental	fonem	fonami
locative	fonie	fonach
vocative	fonie	fony

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French phone.

Noun

fon m (plural foni)

phon

Declension

	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
	singular		plural
nominative-accusative	fon	fonul	foni	fonii
genitive-dative	fon	fonului	foni	fonilor
vocative	fonule		fonilor

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian fon, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *fanē. Cognates include West Frisian fan and German von.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɔn/
Hyphenation: fon
Rhymes: -ɔn

Preposition

fon (neuter or distal adverb deerfon, proximal adverb hierfon, interrogative adverb wierfon)

of
- 2000, Marron C. Fort, transl., Dät Näie Tästamänt un do Psoolme in ju aasterlauwerfräiske Uurtoal fon dät Seelterlound, Fräislound, Butjoarlound, Aastfräislound un do Groninger Umelounde [The New Testament and the Psalms in the East Frisian language, native to Saterland, Friesland, Butjadingen, East Frisia and the Ommelanden of Groningen], →ISBN, Dät Evangelium ätter Matthäus 1:20:
  Wilst hie noch deeruur ättertoachte, ferskeen him n Ängel fon dän Here in n Droom un kwaad: Josef, Súun fon David, freze die nit, Maria as dien Wieuw bie die aptouníemen;
  While he was still thinking about it, came to him an angel from the Lord in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Maria as your wife;
from
- 2000, Marron C. Fort, transl., Dät Näie Tästamänt un do Psoolme in ju aasterlauwerfräiske Uurtoal fon dät Seelterlound, Fräislound, Butjoarlound, Aastfräislound un do Groninger Umelounde [The New Testament and the Psalms in the East Frisian language, native to Saterland, Friesland, Butjadingen, East Frisia and the Ommelanden of Groningen], →ISBN, Dät Evangelium ätter Matthäus 1:21:
  Ju skäl n Súun bere; him skääst du dän Nome Jesus reke; dan hie skäl sien Foulk fon sien Sänden ferleze.
  She will bear a son; you shall give him the name Jesus; then he shall set his people free from its sins.

References

Marron C. Fort (2015) “fon”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɔn̪ˠ/
Hyphenation: fon

Preposition

fon ( dative)

Contraction of fo an.

Usage notes

Like the bare article an, fon triggers lenition if the following noun begins with f, c and g.

References

Colin Mark (2003) “fo”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 307

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fôːn/

Noun

fȏn m (Cyrillic spelling фо̑н)

(linguistics) phone

Declension

Declension of fon

	singular	plural
nominative	fȏn	foni
genitive	fona	fona
dative	fonu	fonima
accusative	fon	fone
vocative	fone	foni
locative	fonu	fonima
instrumental	fonom	fonima

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French fond.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fôːn/

Noun

fȏn m (Cyrillic spelling фо̑н)

basis, foundation
(painting) the first layer that lays the foundation for the painting

Declension

Declension of fon

	singular	plural
nominative	fȏn	fónovi
genitive	fona	fonova
dative	fonu	fonovima
accusative	fon	fonove
vocative	fone	fonovi
locative	fonu	fonovima
instrumental	fonom	fonovima

Synonyms

(basis): ȍsnova
(foundation layer): fȍnd

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English phone

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfon/ [ˈfõn]
Rhymes: -on
Syllabification: fon

Noun

fon m (plural fones)

(Mexico, US, Philippines) phone
Synonyms: teléfono, celular

Derived terms

fonazo

Sranan Tongo

Verb

fon

to beat, to thrash, to pummel
to mash, to puree

Vilamovian

Etymology

From Middle High German von (“from”), from Old High German fon, fona (“from”). Cognate with German von.

Preposition

fon

from
of (belonging to)

[1] Entry #812 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.

[2] fon in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)

[1]

[2]

Translingual

Symbol

English

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

References

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Anagrams

Catalan

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Related terms

Etymology 2

Verb

Etymology 3

Verb

Etymology 4

Verb

Cornish

Pronunciation

Noun

French

Pronunciation

Noun

Further reading

Gothic

Romanization

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Etymology 2

Noun

Hungarian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Derived terms

References

Further reading

Indonesian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Alternative forms

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Noun

Alternative forms

Further reading

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Middle English

Etymology 1

Verb

Etymology 2

Noun

Adjective

Etymology 3

Noun

Old English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Derived terms