foist

WOTD – 13 October 2008    

English

Etymology 1

Probably from obsolete Dutch vuisten (“to take into one’s hand”), from Middle Dutch vuysten, from vuyst (“fist”); akin to Old English fyst (“fist”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /fɔɪst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

foist (third-person singular simple present foists, present participle foisting, simple past and past participle foisted)

1. (transitive) To introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant.
   • 2006 — Theodore Dalrymple, The Gift of Language

     attempts to foist alleged grammatical “correctness” on native speakers of an “incorrect” dialect are nothing but the unacknowledged and oppressive exercise of social control

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Alexander Clouston, Variants and Analogues of some of the Tales in the Supplemental Nights: Volume 2:

     the Tale of Zayn al-Asnám is one of two which Galland repudiated, as having been foisted into his 8th volume without his knowledge

2. (transitive) To force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit.
3. (transitive) To pass off as genuine or worthy.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Spivak — foist costly and valueless products on the public

Synonyms

• fob off
• pass off
• pawn off
• palm off

Translations

introduce or insert surreptitiously

• Dutch: opdringen (nl), aansmeren (nl)
• Finnish: ujuttaa (fi)

• Italian: sbolognare
• Russian: подсунуть (ru) (podsúnut')(pf.),подсовывать (ru) (podsóvyvat')(impf.)

force another to accept

• Dutch: opdringen (nl)
• Finnish: ujuttaa (fi)
• French: imposer (fr)
• Italian: sbolognare (it)

• Russian: навязать (ru) (navjazát')(pf.),навязывать (ru) (navjázyvat')(impf.)
• Serbo-Croatian: uvaliti (sh)
• Spanish: endilgar (es)

pass off as genuine

• Dutch: opdringen (nl), opzadelen (nl) met
• Finnish: ujuttaa (fi)

• Italian: sbolognare (it)
• Russian: подсунуть (ru) (podsúnut')(pf.),подсовывать (ru) (podsóvyvat')(impf.)(в качестве …)

Noun

foist (plural foists)

1. (historical slang) A thief or pickpocket.
   • 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society 2006, p. 54:

     The foist had lately arrived form the country and was known to be doing a thriving trade in and around Westminster Hall where many country folk and others came to see lawyers.

Etymology 2

Old French fuste (“stick, boat”), from Latin fustis (“cudgel”).

Noun

foist (plural foists)

1. (obsolete) A light and fast-sailing ship.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaumont and Flanders to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.