# food

> English word · Noun · IPA /fuːd/ · frequency rank #386

## Definitions
1. Any solid substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life.
2. A foodstuff, a type of food.
3. Anything that nourishes or sustains.
4. Any illegal substance or illegal substances, drugs.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **for** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-for)
- **fox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fox)
- **fro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fro)
- **foy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-foy)
- **fou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fou)
- **from** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-from)
- **four** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-four)
- **form** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-form)
- **foot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-foot)
- **fund** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fund)
- **ford** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-ford)
- **fort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fort)
- **fool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fool)
- **Fred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fred)
- **foul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-foul)
- **fork** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fork)
- **frog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-frog)
- **fowl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-fowl)
- **foxy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-foxy)
- **Foxx** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/food-vs-foxx)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ffood`, `fod`, `fodo`, `foodd`, `ofod`

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