"F" Word Origins

fault

Vulgar Latin

From Old French faute, ultimately from Vulgar Latin fallita, "a shortcoming", related to Latin fallere, "to deceive".

faultful

Origin

From fault + -ful.

faulty

Origin

From "fault" plus "-y".

faun

Latin

From Latin Faunus, a Roman god of forests and shepherds.

fauna

New Latin

From New Latin fauna, named after Fauna, the Roman goddess of animals and fertility.

Faust

German

Named after Johann Georg Faust, a real German alchemist and magician whose life inspired the legend.

faux

French

Borrowed directly from French faux, "false", the same root as the English word "false".

favaginous

Origin

Obscure formation from Latin favus (“honeycomb”). Compare deluginous (where the -in- is also unexpected); most -ginous terms derive from Latin words ending in g being suffixed with -īnus (“-inous”).

fave

Origin

A shortening of "favourite" (or "favorite").

favela

Portuguese

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese favela.

favicon

English

A blend of favourites (in the US spelling favorites) and icon, from the small image originally shown beside a saved bookmark.

favor

Latin

From Latin favor, "goodwill, support", from favere, "to be kind to, support".

favorable

Latin

Via Old French from Latin favorabilis, from favor 'goodwill'; the American spelling of favourable.

favorably

Origin

From "favorable" plus "-ly".

favoritize

Origin

From favorite + -ize.

Favors

French

Americanized form of French Favre.

favourable

Latin

From Old French favorable, tracing back to Latin favor — the same root as "favour" itself, with -able added to mean "tending toward approval."

favourite

Latin · 1500

From 16th-century French favorit, ultimately from Latin favor ("goodwill") — tracing back to the verb faveo, "to favour, support."

favoursome

Origin

From favour + -some.

faw

Origin

Phonetic rendering of for.

Fawkes

Origin

Variant spelling of Faulks.

fawn

Latin

From Old French faon ("young animal"), from Latin fetus ("offspring") — a doublet of "fetus".

fax

Middle English

From Middle English fax, from Old English feax (“hair, head of hair”), from Proto-West Germanic *fahs, from Proto-Germanic *fahsą (“hair, mane”), from Proto-Indo-European *poḱsom (“hair”, literally “that which is combed, shorn, or plucked”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to comb, shear, pluck”). Cognate with Dutch vas (“headhair”), German Fachs (“head-hair”), Norwegian faks (“mane”), Icelandic fax (“mane”), Sanskrit पक्ष्मन् (pákṣman, “eyelash, hair, filament”).

faxed

Middle English

From Middle English *faxed, from Old English feaxed, ġefeaxed (“haired; having hair”), from Old English feax (“hair”). More at fax.

fay

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English feyen, feien, from Old English fēġan (“to join, unite”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōgijan, from Proto-Germanic *fōgijaną (“to join”), from *fōgō (“joint, slot”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, place”). Akin to Saterland Frisian fougje (“to join, add”), West Frisian foegje (“to join, add”), Dutch voegen (“to add, place”), German Low German fögen (“to join, add”), German fügen (“to connect”), Old English fōn (“to catch”). More at fang.

Faye

French

* (surname): Borrowed from French Faye or other languages.

faze

Old English · 1830

From an old English dialect word "feeze," meaning to frighten or drive off, first recorded in standard use around 1830.

Fazio

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Fazio.

FBS

English

An initialism, standing for Football Bowl Subdivision, fasting blood sugar or fetal bovine serum depending on the field.

FDA

English

An initialism of Food and Drug Administration.

Fe

Origin

Short for "forty-eighth," referring to a book cut from one forty-eighth of a full printer's sheet — the smallest standard sizing code.

feague

Origin

From Dutch vegen (“to sweep, strike”), from Middle Dutch vēghen (“to cleanse”), from Old Dutch *fegōn (“to cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *faginōn, from Proto-Germanic *faginōną (“to decorate, make beautiful”), from Proto-Indo-European *pōḱ-, *pēḱ- (“to clean, to adorn”). Cognate with Danish feje (“to sweep”), German fegen (“to cleanse, scour, sweep”), Icelandic fægja (“to polish”), Swedish feja (“to sweep”). More at fay, fair, fake.

fealty

Latin

From Old French feauté, ultimately from Latin fidelitas ("faithfulness") — a doublet of "fidelity".

fear

Old English

From Old English fær, meaning "sudden danger or calamity," related to Dutch gevaar and German Gefahr ("danger").

feared

Middle English

From Middle English fard, feard, ferd, ferde, fered, equivalent to fear + -ed.

fearful

Middle English

From Middle English ferful, fervol, equivalent to fear + -ful.

fearless

Origin

From "fear" plus the suffix "-less", meaning "without."

Fears

Origin

Patronymic from Fear.

fearsome

Origin

From "fear" plus "-some," a suffix meaning "tending to cause."

feasance

Origin

From Anglo-Norman fesance, from Old French faisance (“action, deed, enactment”), from faisant, present participle of faire.

feasibility

French

From feasible, which comes from Old French faisable 'doable', from faire 'to do', ultimately from Latin facere 'to do, to make'.

feasible

Latin

From Old French faisable ("doable"), from faire ("to do"), ultimately from Latin facere.

feast

Latin

From Old French feste, from Latin festum ("holiday, festival") — a doublet of "fete", "fiesta", and "fest".

feastful

Origin

From feast + -ful (adjectival suffix).

feastly

Origin

From Middle English festlich, equivalent to feast + -ly. Compare Dutch feestelijk (“festive”), German festlich (“festive, solemn”), Danish and Swedish festlig (“festive, solemn”).

feastware

Origin

From feast + -ware.

feat

Latin

From Old French fait, from Latin factum ("a thing done") — a doublet of "fact".

feather

Latin

From Old English feþer, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to fly" — related to Greek petomai ("to fly") and Latin penna ("feather").