foolhardy

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*harduz“hard; brave”
2. Frankish · derived from*hartjan
3. Old French · derived fromhardi“durable, hardy, tough”
4. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰelǵʰ-“to swell”
5. Latin · derived fromfollis“bellows; purse, sack; inflated ball; belly, paunch”
6. Old French · derived fromfol“foolish, silly; insane, mad”
7. Old French · derived fromfol hardi“foolishly bold”
8. Middle English · inherited fromfolehardy
9. English todayfoolhardy

From Middle English folehardy, foolhardi, folherdi, from Old French fol hardi (“foolishly bold”), from Old French fol (“foolish, silly; insane, mad”) (from Latin follis (“bellows; purse, sack; inflated ball; belly, paunch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”)) + Old French hardi (“durable, hardy, tough”) (past tense of hardir (“to harden”), from the unattested Frankish *hartjan, from Proto-Germanic *harduz (“hard; brave”)), equivalent to fool + hardy. Compare fool-bold, fool-large, etc.

Words from the same roots