foil

foil · noun, verb¹

1. Late Latin · derived fromfolia
2. Old French · derived fromfueille“plant leaf”
3. Middle French · derived fromfueille
4. Middle English · inherited fromfoyle
5. English todayfoil

From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine. The literary sense is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brilliantly. Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.

foil · verb, noun²

1. Latin · derived fromfullō“to trample, full”
2. Old French · derived fromfouler“tread on, trample”
3. Middle English · inherited fromfoilen“spoil a scent trail by crossing it”
4. English todayfoil

From Middle English foilen (“spoil a scent trail by crossing it”), from Old French fouler (“tread on, trample”), ultimately from Latin fullō (“to trample, full”).

foil · noun³

1. French · derived fromfoulis
2. English todayfoil

From French foulis.

foil · verb⁴

From mnemonic acronym FOIL (“First Outside Inside Last”).

foil · verb⁵

See file.

FOIL · proper noun, verb⁶

Acronym of first outer inner last or similar.

Words from the same roots