"F" Word Origins

footlocker

Origin

From foot + locker, describing where it sits — at the foot of the bed.

footloose

Origin

From foot + loose, describing feet that are free (loose) to go wherever they like.

footman

Old English

From Old English words for "foot" and "man," originally describing a foot soldier before shifting to mean a household servant.

footmark

Origin

From foot + mark.

footmeal

Origin

From Middle English footmele, fotmelen, from Old English fōtmǣlum (“step by step, by degrees”), dative plural of Old English fōtmǣl (“a foot-measure, one foot”), equivalent to foot + -meal.

footnote

Origin

From foot + note, describing a note placed at the "foot," or bottom, of the page.

footpath

Middle English

From Middle English foot path, foot + path.

footprint

Origin

From foot + print.

footslog

Origin

From foot + slog.

footstall

Origin

From foot + stall. Compare pedestal.

footstep

Old English

From Old English roots meaning "foot" and "step."

footstone

Origin

From foot + stone.

footstool

Origin

From foot + stool.

footway

Origin

From Middle English fotwei, equivalent to foot + way. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Foutwai, German Fußweg.

footwear

Origin

From foot + wear — literally, "what is worn on the foot."

footwork

Origin

From foot + work.

footy

French

Compare Dutch vochtig. In the senses “insignificant, paltry; poorly kept, shoddy” Merriam-Webster suggests derivation from French foutu, past participle of foutre (“to copulate, fuck, screw”).

fop

Middle English

From Middle English foppe, meaning "fool," related to German foppen, "to tease or mock."

fopdoodle

Origin

From fop (“vain man, dandy”) + doodle (“(obsolete) mindless person, fool, simpleton”).

for

Old English

From Old English for, going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "before" or "in front of" — related to German für and Dutch voor.

for what it's worth

Origin

The phrase may have originally been used to qualify a statement of advice, opinion, or suggestion by referring to such a statement and describing it separately from making it.

forage

Old French

From Old French forage, related to fuerre ("straw, fodder"), tracing back to a Germanic word for "fodder."

foray

Middle English

From Middle English forrayen, "to raid or pillage," ultimately tied to an old word for fodder taken during a raid.

forbar

Origin

From Middle English forbarren (“to bar, bar up, block”), equivalent to for- + bar. Compare Middle High German verbarren (“to forbar”).

forbearance

English

From the verb forbear 'to hold back, refrain', formed from the Old English prefix for- and beran 'to bear, carry', plus the noun suffix -ance.

forbid

Old English

From Old English forbēodan, built from for- ("away") + a root meaning "to command" — related to German verbieten.

forbiddance

Origin

From forbid + -ance.

forbidden

Origin

The past participle of forbid.

forbidding

Origin

From forbid + -ing.

forbode

Origin

From Middle English forbode, forbod, from Old English forbod (“a forbidding, prohibition”), from Proto-Germanic *frabudą (“prohibition”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, fully perceive”), equivalent to for- + bode. Cognate with Dutch verbod, German Verbot, Danish forbud, Swedish förbud. More at forbid.

forburn

Origin

From Middle English forburnen, forbrinnen, from Old English forbirnan (intransitive) and forbærnan (transitive), equivalent to for- + burn. Cognate with Saterland Frisian ferbaadenje, ferbaanje (“to burn up”), West Frisian ferbarne (“to burn up”), German Low German verbrannen (“to burn up”), German verbrennen (“to burn up, incinerate”).

forbus

Origin

Variant spelling of Forbes.

forbush

Origin

Two main origins: * A variant of the Scottish surname Forbes. * An Americanized spelling of German Vorbusch.

forby

Origin

From Middle English forby, forbi, of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, equivalent to fore- + by. Compare Saterland Frisian foarbie (“beyond, past”), West Frisian foarby (“over, beyond, past”), Dutch voorbij (“beyond, past”), Low German vörbi, vörbie (“over, up, gone, finished, past”), German vorbei (“over, gone, past”), Danish forbi, Swedish förbi. More at fore, by.

force

Late Latin

From Old French force, from Late Latin fortia, derived from Latin fortis, meaning "strong."

force majeure

French

A borrowing from French, literally 'superior force', taken into English through French contract law.

forceful

Origin

From force + -ful.

forcefully

Origin

From forceful + -ly.

forcemeat

Origin

From force + meat, the former element a variant of obsolete farce (“to stuff”) influenced by force, itself from French farcir (“to stuff”).

forceps

Latin

Borrowed directly from Latin forceps, a tool name.

forcible

Old French

From Old French forcible, from forcier ("to conquer by force"), plus the suffix -ible.

forcibly

Origin

From forcible + -ly.

forcing

Origin

From force + -ing.

ford

Old English

From Old English ford, related to the idea of "crossing" — a distant cousin of the words firth and fjord.

Fordham

Old English

From Old English ford + either hām (“homestead”) or hamm (“promontory”).

fordo

Origin

From Middle English fordon, from Old English fordōn (“to undo, bring to naught, ruin, destroy, abolish, kill, corrupt, seduce, defile”), from Proto-West Germanic *fradōn (“to ruin, destroy”), equivalent to for- + do. Cognate with Saterland Frisian ferdwo (“to waste, consume”), West Frisian ferdwaan (“to waste”), Dutch verdoen (“to kill, waste”), German Low German verdoon (“to waste, consume”), German vertun (“to waste, spend, consume”).

fordrench

Origin

From Middle English fordrenchen, from Old English fordrenċan (“to make drunk, intoxicate”), equivalent to for- + drench. Cognate with Middle Low German vordrenken.

fordrive

Origin

From Middle English fordriven, from Old English fordrīfan (“to drive, sweep away, drive on, impel, compel, drive away, expel, overtax”), from Proto-West Germanic *fradrīban, from Proto-Germanic *fradrībaną (“to drive away, drive out, expel”), equivalent to for- + drive. Cognate with West Frisian fordriuwe, ferdriuwe (“to expel”), Dutch verdrijven (“to expel”), German Low German verdrieven (“to drive away”), German vertreiben (“to expel, drive out, banish”), Danish fordrive (“to oust, expel”), Swedish fördriva (“to drive away, drive out, banish”).