Etymograph

English

foolish

Foolish comes from Middle English folisch ‘Foolish, erroneous, ridiculous’, from fol ‘fool’, and ultimately from Latin follis ‘bellows’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfollis‘bellows’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fol
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘fool’
  4. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500folisch‘Foolish, erroneous, ridiculous’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1828foolish

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfollis‘bellows’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fol
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘fool’
  4. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500folisch‘Foolish, erroneous, ridiculous’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1828foolish

Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “His wife and the neighbours lamented over his strange…”

Formed from fool + -ish

Latin follis ‘bellows’

Old French fol ‘foolish’

Middle English fol

English fool

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‘to swell’

budget, belly, bloc, bulge, budge, bolster, bellows, billow, 14 more

through Latin follis ‘bellows’

follicle, 6 more

through Old French fol

folly, follies, foolhardy, 1 more

Today it means

adj Lacking good sense or judgement as a general trait; unwise; stupid.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin follis / foolish

Shirt and support for this word