"F" Word Origins

funk

Latin · 1600

Traced to 17th-century French dialect words meaning "to smoke" or "to reek," ultimately from Latin fumigare ("to fumigate") — the same root as "fumigate."

funky

Origin

From "funk" plus the adjective suffix "-y."

funnel

Latin

From Middle English funell, likely via Old French, ultimately from Latin infundibulum ("funnel"), from infundere ("to pour in").

funnily

Origin

From "funny" plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

funnisome

Origin

From funny + -some.

funny

Origin · 1700

From "fun" plus the adjective suffix "-y," first recorded in the 1700s.

funnywoman

Origin

From funny + woman.

fur

Middle English

From Middle English furre/forre, via Anglo-Norman, ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "sheath" or "case" — the same root that gives German Futter ("lining").

furfuraceous

Origin

Borrowed from Latin furfur (“bran”) + -aceous.

furibund

Origin

From French furibond (“furious”) and Middle English furybound, furybounde, both borrowed from Latin furibundus (“frantic, frenzied; maddened, raving; inspired”), from furō (“to rave, rage”) + -bundus (suffix forming adjectives with an active or transitive meaning). The further etymology of furō is uncertain; a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke; haze, mist”) has been suggested.

Furies

Latin

From Latin Furiae.

furigana

Origin

Borrowed from Japanese 振り仮名 (furigana, “annotating kana”, literally “assigned provisional character”).

furious

Latin

From Old French furieus, from Latin furiosus, related to furia ("rage").

furiously

Origin

From "furious" plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

furlong

Old English

From Old English furlang, a compound of furh ("furrow") and lang ("long") — originally the standard length of a plowed furrow.

furlough

German

From Dutch verlof ("furlough, permission"), related to German Verlaub — ultimately the same root family as the English word "leave."

furnace

Latin

From Old French fornais, from Latin fornax, meaning "oven" or "kiln."

furnish

Old French

From Old French furnir/fornir, from a Frankish root meaning "to complete" or "to further/promote."

furniture

Middle French

From Middle French fourniture ("a supply, or the act of furnishing"), from fournir ("to furnish").

furor

Origin

From Middle English furour, from Middle French fureur, from Old French furor, from Latin furor, from furō (“To rage, to be out of one's mind”).

furrow

Old English

From Old English furh, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "furrow," ultimately related to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to dig."

furry

Origin

From "fur" plus the adjective suffix "-y."

further

Old English

From Old English furþor ("further"), ultimately related to "fore" and the comparative ending seen in words like "other" and "either."

furthermore

Middle English

From Middle English furthermore, a combination of further and more.

furtive

Latin

From Latin furtivus ("stolen, secret, hidden"), from furtum ("theft"), from fur ("thief").

furuncle

Origin

Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin fūrunculus (“a petty thief, pilferer; a pointed burning sore, boil”), diminutive of fūr (“a thief”).

fury

Latin

From Old French furie, from Latin furia ("rage"), related to the mythological Furies, goddesses of vengeance.

Fusco

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Fusco.

fuse

Origin

A back-formation from "fusion," originally used as a verb meaning "to melt."

fuselage

Latin

Borrowed from French fuselage, ultimately from Latin fusus ("spindle") — the shape of an aircraft body was compared to a spindle.

fusiform

Origin

From Latin fusus (“spindle”) + -iform.

fusillade

Origin

From French fusillade, from fusiller (“shoot with a firearm”), from fusil (“rifle, gun”).

fusing

Origin

From the Tongyong Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation for 復興 (Fùxīng) Tongyong Pinyin romanization: Fùsing.

fusion

Latin

From Latin fusio, from fundere ("to pour" or "to melt") — the same root that gives us "found" (as in metal-founding).

fuss

German

Origin uncertain; possibly related to a Danish word meaning "nonsense," via Middle Low German.

fussy

Origin

From fuss + the adjective-forming suffix -y.

fustat

Origin

From Arabic الفُسطاط (al-Fusṭāṭ).

fustian

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English fustian (“type of fabric, probably made from cotton, flax, or wool; piece of fustian spread over a bed or mattress”) [and other forms], from Old French fustaine, fustaigne (modern French futaine), from Medieval Latin fūstāneum, from (pannus) fūstāneus or (tela) fūstānea, of disputed origin. Sense 3 (“inflated, pompous, or pretentious speech or writing”) is possibly from the fact that the fabric was sometimes used to make cushion- and pillowcases, thus suggesting that the speech or writing is “padded” or “stuffed”; compare bombast. The relationship between sense 4 (“hot drink made of a mixture of alcoholic beverages with egg yolk, lemon, and spices”) and the fabric is unclear. The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun. Cognates * Italian fustagno * Occitan fustani * Portuguese fustão * Spanish fustan

fusty

Origin

From Middle English fusty, equivalent to fust + -y. Compare Scots foosty.

futile

Latin

From Middle French futile, from Latin fūtilis, "leaky, worthless."

futility

Latin

From Latin fūtilitās ("worthlessness"); by form, it reads as futile + -ity.

futon

Chinese

Borrowed from Japanese futon (布団), which traces back through Chinese to words for "bulrush" and "round object," describing the original woven cushion.

futurable

Origin

From future + -able. Compare Spanish futurible.

future

Latin

From Old French futur, from Latin futūrus, "about to be" — the future form of the verb "to be." This word pushed the older English term tōweard out of use, which survives today only in the word "toward."

futuristic

Origin

From future + the adjective-forming suffix -istic.

fuxian

Origin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 富縣 /富县 (Fùxiàn).

fuzz

Germanic

Origin uncertain — possibly related to a Germanic word for something loose or spongy, or a back-formation from "fuzzy."

fuzznut

Origin

Compound of fuzz (“befuddlement”) + nut (“head”).