fool

English

Etymology

From Middle English fool, from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis.[1]. Doublet of follis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fuːl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːl

Noun

fool (plural fools)

  1. (pejorative) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
    You were a fool to cross that busy road without looking.
    The village fool threw his own shoes down the well.
    • Franklin
      Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.
  2. (historical) A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
  3. (informal) Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
    • Milton
      Can they think me […] their fool or jester?
    • 1975, Foghat, "Fool for the City" (song), Fool for the City (album):
      I'm a fool for the city.
  4. (slang) Buddy, dude, person.
  5. (cooking) A type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.
    an apricot fool; a gooseberry fool
  6. (often capitalized, Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck.

Synonyms

  • (person with poor judgment): See also Thesaurus:fool
  • (person who entertained a sovereign): jester, joker
  • (person who talks a lot of nonsense): gobshite

Translations

Verb

fool (third-person singular simple present fools, present participle fooling, simple past and past participle fooled)

  1. To trick; to make a fool of someone.
  2. To play the fool; to trifle; to toy; to spend time in idle sport or mirth.
    • Dryden
      Is this a time for fooling?
    • 1972, Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (page 56)
      She's always complaining that she got stuck with the worst possible committee. And that me and Jimmy fool more than we work.

Synonyms

  • See also Thesaurus:deceive

Translations

Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ fool in: T. F. Hoad, Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford University Press, 2003, →ISBN

Anagrams

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French fol (French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis.[1]

Noun

fool (plural fools)

  1. fool

Rohingya

Etymology

From Sanskrit पागल (pāgala)

Noun

fool

  1. mad man
  1. ↑ fool in: T. F. Hoad, Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford University Press, 2003, →ISBN
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