food

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English fode, foode, from Old English fōda (“food”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōdō, from Proto-Germanic *fōdô (“food”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to guard, graze, feed”).

Cognate with Scots fuid (“food”), Low German föde, vöde (“food”), West Frisian fiedsel (“food”), Dutch voedsel (“food”) Danish føde (“food”), Swedish föda (“food”), Icelandic fæða, fæði (“food”), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (fōdeins, “food”), Latin pānis (“bread, food”), Latin pāscō (“feed, nourish”, verb). Related to fodder, foster.

Pronunciation[edit]

(Received Pronunciation) enPR: fo͞od, IPA^(key): /fuːd/
(General American) enPR: fo͞od, IPA^(key): /fud/
Audio (UK) (file)
(MLE) IPA^(key): /fʏːd/
Audio (MLE) (file)
Rhymes: -uːd

Noun[edit]

food (usually uncountable, plural foods)

(uncountable) Any solid substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:food

The innkeeper brought them food and drink.
- 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎^[1]:
  “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
  Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”
- 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 72-3:
  Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
(countable) A foodstuff.
Synonyms: (archaic, now only humorous or regional) belly-timber, foodstuff, provender; see also Thesaurus:food
- 2006, C Williams; J Buttriss, Improving the Fat Content of Foods, →ISBN, page 492:
  Variation and changes in the trans fatty acid content of different foods, especially in processed foods, further complicate such estimates.
(uncountable, figuratively) Anything that nourishes or sustains.
Hyponym: brainfood

The man's inspiring speech gave us food for thought.

Mozart and Bach are food for my soul.
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
  This may prove food to my displeasure.
- 1798, William Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey:
  In this moment there is life and food / For future years.
(uncountable, MLE) Any illegal substance or illegal substances, drugs.
- 2009 March 17, “Next Hype”, in All-Star Pars‎^[2], performed by Tempa T:
  What kind of things that you have. When I find out don't expect me to stop. I'll come for the P's that you stack. And come for the food that you blot.
- 2015, Stormzy (lyrics and music), “Shut Up”, in Gang Signs & Prayer, performed by Stormzy, track 15:
  I'm so London, I'm so south / Food in the ends like there ain't no drought / Flipz don't talk like he's got no mouth

Usage notes[edit]

Adjectives often applied to "food": raw, cooked, baked, fried, grilled, processed, healthy, unhealthy, wholesome, nutritious, safe, toxic, tainted, adulterated, tasty, delicious, fresh, stale, sweet, sour, spicy, exotic, marine.

Synonyms[edit]

(substance consumed by living organisms): belly-timber (archaic, now only humorous or regional), chow (slang), comestible (formal), eats (slang), feed (for domesticated animals), fodder (for domesticated animals), foodstuffs, nosh (slang), nourishment, provender, sustenance, victuals