English
folly
Folly comes from Middle English folie ‘a folly, mistake, or ill-advised idea’, from Old French folie ‘madness’, and ultimately from Latin follis ‘bellows’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfollis‘bellows’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fol‘mad, insane’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400folie‘madness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a folly, mistake, or ill-advised idea’
- Englishearliest quotation 1811folly
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfollis‘bellows’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fol‘mad, insane’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400folie‘madness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a folly, mistake, or ill-advised idea’
- Englishearliest quotation 1811folly
Earliest quotation: 1811, Jane Austen, London: […] C[harles] Roworth: “'[…] The treachery, or the folly, of my cousin's…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‘to swell’
budget, bloc, belly, bulge, budge, bolster, bellows, billow, 13 more
through Latin follis ‘bellows’
foolish, foolhardy, follicle, 5 more
through Old French fol ‘mad, insane’
through Old French folie ‘madness’
Another origin of folly
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-‘blossom, flower’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰolh₃yom‘leaf’uncertain
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfolia‘a leaf’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fueille‘leaf (of a plant)’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600feuille‘leaf (of a plant)’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘leaf (of a plant)’uncertain
- Englishtodayfolly
The most common theory is that term primarily denotes a clump of trees and relates to French feuille, feuillée and English foliage; it has also been suggested that it refers to some perceived connection or resemblance of the named place to an architectural folly, but many places so named have no architectural follies and cannot be named directly for them.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Today it means
noun Foolishness that results from a lack of foresight or lack of practicality.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin follis / folly