# foe

> English word · Adjective · IPA /fəʊ/ · frequency rank #14,761

## Definitions
1. Hostile.

## Etymology
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”)).

## Easily confused with
- **fu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fu)
- **FS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fs)
- **FP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fp)
- **FW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fw)
- **fy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fy)
- **for** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-for)
- **fun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fun)
- **fox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fox)
- **fur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fur)
- **fog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fog)
- **fry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fry)
- **FYI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fyi)
- **foo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-foo)
- **fro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fro)
- **FTC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-ftc)
- **FSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fsa)
- **fra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fra)
- **FTP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-ftp)
- **FTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fta)
- **FSB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-fsb)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/foe