"F" Word Origins

forties

Origin

From forties, due to the dpth of the area.

fortification

Latin

Via French from late Latin fortificatio, from fortificare 'to make strong', from Latin fortis 'strong' and facere 'to make'.

fortify

Latin

From Old French fortifier, from Latin fortis, "strong," plus the causative suffix -ficare.

fortifying

Origin

From fortify + -ing.

fortissimo

Origin

Borrowed from Italian fortissimo.

fortitude

Latin

From Latin fortitudo, "strength or bravery," from fortis, "strong."

fortitudinous

Origin

From Latin fortitūdin- + -ous, from oblique stem of Latin fortitūdō, from fortis + -tūdō. By surface analysis, fortitude + -ous.

fortnight

Old English

From Old English feowertiene niht, literally "fourteen nights" — the Anglo-Saxons counted time by nights rather than days.

fortress

Latin

From Old French forteresce, "strong place," from Latin fortis, "strong."

fortuitous

Latin

From Latin fortuitus, "happening by chance."

fortuity

Origin

From fortuitous + -ity, from Latin fortuītus.

Fortuna

Latin

From Latin "fortuna," meaning "fortune" or "chance."

fortunate

Latin

From Latin fortunatus, "lucky," from fortuna, "fortune, luck."

fortunately

Origin

From fortunate plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

fortune

Latin

From Latin fortuna, "chance, luck," named after Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fortune.

fortuneless

Origin

From fortune + -less.

forty

Old English

From Old English feowertig, from Proto-Germanic roots meaning "four tens" — the same pattern as "fifty" and "sixty."

forum

Latin

From Latin forum, "public marketplace" — the same word gave us the modern sense of an open space for debate.

forward

Old English

From Old English foreweard, combining fore- ("front") and -ward ("in the direction of").

forwards

Origin

From forward plus the adverbial -s ending.

forwhy

Origin

From Middle English forwhy, forwhi, from Old English forhwī, forhwȳ (“why, wherefore”). Equivalent to for + why.

forwork

Origin

From Middle English forwirken, forwerken, forwurchen, from Old English forwyrċan (“to do wrong, sin; ruin, undo, destroy; condemn, convict, curse; forfeit; barricade, obstruct, close up”), from Proto-Germanic *frawurkijaną, equivalent to for- + work. Cognate with Dutch verwerken (“to digest, assimilate, work up, put into action”), German verwirken (“to forfeit”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (frawaurkjan).

foss

Old Norse

From Old Norse fors ("waterfall"), by way of Icelandic or Norwegian.

Fosse

Middle English

From Middle English fosse, from Old French fosse, from Latin fossa (“ditch, trench”).

fossil

Latin

From Latin fossilis, "dug up," from fodere, "to dig" — fossils were originally just "things dug out of the ground."

foster

Old English

From Old English fostor, "food, nourishment" — the idea of feeding and raising broadened into the modern sense of caring for someone.

fou

Origin

Borrowed from Scots fou, a dialect relative of "full."

Foucault

French

Borrowed from French Foucault.

foul

Old English

From Old English fūl, "dirty, rotten, corrupt" — a very old Germanic word related to the idea of decay.

foumart

Origin

From Middle English fulmard, from Old English fūl (“foul”) + mearþ (“marten”), in reference to its offensive smell.

found

Latin

The "establish" sense comes from Latin fundare, "to lay a foundation"; the past-tense sense is simply the irregular past form of "find."

foundation

Latin

From Latin fundatio, "the act of founding," from fundare, "to lay a base."

founder

Latin

From Old French fondeur, from Latin fundator — related to "found" in the sense of "establish."

foundling

Middle English

From Middle English fyndling, built from "found" plus the suffix -ling, meaning a small or young one.

foundry

Latin

From French fonderie, ultimately from Latin fundere, "to pour" or "melt."

fount

Origin

Clipping of fountain, on the pattern of the pair mount, mountain.

fountain

Latin

From Old French fontaine, from Latin fons, "spring" or "source."

four

Old English

From Old English feower, from Proto-Germanic fedwor, tracing back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European word for the number four.

fourpence

Origin

From four + pence.

foursome

Origin

From four plus the suffix -some, meaning "a group of."

foursquare

Origin

From Middle English foure square; equivalent to four + square.

fourteen

Old English

From Old English feowertiene, formed from four plus -teen.

fourteenth

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English fourtenthe, fourtethe, from Old English fēowertēoþa, equivalent to fourteen + -th.

fourth

Old English

From Old English feowerþa, formed from four plus the ordinal suffix -th.

fouthy

Origin

From fouth (“abundance, fullness, plenty”) + -y.

fowl

Old English

From Old English fugol, "bird" — related to the verb "fly," since a fowl was originally just any flying creature.

fowler

Old English

From Old English fuglere, "bird hunter," built from fowl plus -er.

fox

Old English

From Old English fox, from a Proto-Germanic root possibly meaning "the tailed one."