foe

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /foʊ/ UK /fəʊ/ See IPA manual

Homophones

faux /foʊ/

Meanings

1

noun
an enemy or adversary

In time, the bitter foes became uneasy allies.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an enemy or adversary enemy adversary opponent rival antagonist nemesis

Opposites

friend ally comrade companion

Word family

Derived forms foeman

Related forms foeman feud

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Friend or foe

Etymology

From Old English fāh, gefā ('hostile, enemy'), from Proto-Germanic *faihaz ('hostile'), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ('to be hostile').

fāh Old English *faihaz Proto-Germanic *peyḱ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# foe

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /foʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /fəʊ/

## Meanings
1. an enemy or adversary

## Examples
- In time, the bitter foes became uneasy allies.

## Synonyms
- enemy
- adversary
- opponent
- rival
- antagonist
- nemesis

## Antonyms
- friend
- ally
- comrade
- companion

## Derived Forms
- foeman

## Related Forms
- foeman
- feud

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fāh
- Root: *faihaz
- Root: *peyḱ-

## Etymology
From Old English fāh, gefā ('hostile, enemy'), from Proto-Germanic *faihaz ('hostile'), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ('to be hostile').

## AI Etymology
Foe is from Old English fāh, gefā ('hostile, enemy'), from Proto-Germanic *faihaz ('hostile'), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ('to be hostile'). Important recorded forms include fāh (Old English), *faihaz (Proto-Germanic), and *peyḱ- (Proto-Indo-European). The current sense covers an enemy or adversary. The wider family includes derived forms such as foeman and related words such as foeman and feud.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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foe