Meanings
foe1
- obsoleteHostile.
he, I say, could passe into Affrike onely with two simple ships or small barkes, to commit himselfe in a strange and foe countrie, to engage his person, under the power of a barbarous King […].
, vol.1, ch.23
plural foes
- An enemy.
And a mans foes ſhalbe they of his owne houſhold.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:361 more example
Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55
foe2
FoE3
FOE4
alternative FoE
- abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Friends of the Earth.
- abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Fraternal Order of Eagles.
alternative FoE
- abbreviationinitialismuncountableInitialism of freedom of expression.
- abbreviationinitialismuncountableInitialism of forces of evil.
Foe5
- A surname from German.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA unit of energy equal to 10⁴⁴ joules.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
foe · adjective, noun
- Proto-Indo-European*peyk/ḱ-“to hate, be hostile”
- Proto-Germanic*faihaz
- Proto-West Germanic*faih
- Old Englishġefāh“enemy”
- Middle Englishfo“foe; hostile”
- Englishfoe
From Middle English fo (“foe; hostile”), from earlier yfoh, yvo, ifa (“foe”), from Old English ġefāh (“enemy”), from fāh (“hostile”), from Proto-West Germanic *faih, from Proto-Germanic *faihaz (compare Old Frisian fāch (“punishable”), Middle High German gevēch (“feuder”)), from Proto-Indo-European *peyk/ḱ- (“to hate, be hostile”) (compare Middle Irish óech (“enemy, fiend”), Lithuanian pi̇̀ktas (“evil”)).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →foe · noun
Acronym of [ten to the power of] fifty-one ergs, due to equalling 10⁵¹ ergs; coined by Gerald Brown of Stony Brook University in his work with Hans Bethe.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish fjendtlig
- fjendtlighostile
German gegnerisch, feindlich
- gegnerischhostile
- feindlichhostile
Hungarian ellenséges
- ellenségeshostile
Spanish rival, inimicísimo (disused)
- rivalhostile
- inimicísimo (disused)hostile
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with foe
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
foe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foe
“foe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foe. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foe,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foe.
Source: foe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.