fole

See also: føle and fölé

English

Noun

fole (plural foles)

1. Obsolete spelling of foal
   • 1858, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Æstivation:

     In candent ire the solar splendor flames;
     The foles, languescent, pend from arid rames;
     His humid front the cive, anheling, wipes,
     And dreams of erring on ventiferous ripes.

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *spālai, from Proto-Indo-European *spel (“to cleave, break”). Related to fyell and fell. Compare Greek φωλιά (foliá, “nest”), from Ancient Greek φωλεά (phōleá).

Noun

fole f (plural fole, definite foleja, definite plural foletë)

1. nest (mainly of birds)

Related terms

• fell
• fyell

 

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French fol, from Latin follis.

Alternative forms

• foul, fol, fool, fule, ffuyll, foole, ffoole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foːl/

Noun

fole (plural foles)

2. A fool, idiot, or moron; somebody who is stupid or unthinking.
3. An entertainer or joker; somebody who is employed to provide amusement.
4. (rare) Someone who is incapacitated or shocked; someone whose idiocy is temporary.
5. (rare) A victim of a scam or trick; someone who is fooled.

Derived terms

• folen
• folisch
• folliche
• folye

 

Descendants

• English: fool
• Geordie English: fuil, feul
• Scots: fule, fuil
• → Welsh: ffôl

Adjective

fole

2. Foolish, moronic, idiotic, ridiculous.
3. Evil, iniquitous, malign, devilish.
4. Sexually deviant, immoral or sinful.

Descendants

• Scots: fule, fuil

References

• “fọ̄l, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.
• “fọ̄l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.

Etymology 2

From Old English fola, from Proto-West Germanic *folō, from Proto-Germanic *fulô.

Alternative forms

• fool, foole, ffoole, fowle, foale

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːl(ə)/

Noun

fole (plural foles)

2. A foal (a young horse).
3. A horse regardless of its age.
4. The young of any other mammal, including the human being.

Descendants

• English: foal
• Scots: fole, foill
• Yola: voal

References

• “fōle, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.

Etymology 3

Verb

fole

2. Alternative form of folen (“to foal”)
3. inflection of folen (“to foal”):
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. first/second/third-person singular present subjunctive

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse foli.

Noun

fole m (definite singular folen, indefinite plural foler, definite plural folene)

1. a foal (colt or filly)

   Synonym: føll

Etymology 2

From Old Norse fola.

Verb

fole

1. to foal (give birth to a foal)

References

• “fole” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse foli.

Noun

fole m (definite singular folen, indefinite plural folar, definite plural folane)

1. a foal (colt or filly)

   Synonym: føl

Etymology 2

From Old Norse fola.

Alternative forms

• fola

Verb

fole

1. to foal (give birth to a foal)

References

• “fole” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.li/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.li/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.le/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.lɨ/

• Hyphenation: fo‧le

Etymology 1

From Latin follis, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰolǵʰnis, derivative of *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”).

Noun

fole m (plural foles)

1. bellows (flexible container used to blow air)

Derived terms

• gaita de foles
• ir no fole
• isto não é fole de ferreiro
• nascer entre dois foles

 

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Guinea-Bissau Creole foli, from Mandinka.

Noun

fole m (plural foles)

1. (dialect, Guinea-Bissau) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

fole m (plural foles)

1. (Mozambique) tobacco, snuff

Further reading

• “fole” in iDicionário Aulete.
• “fole” in Dicionário inFormal.
• “fole” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “fole” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024.
• “fole” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “fole” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.