foil

foil
\ \ English has three separate words foil. The oldest, ‘thwart’ [13], originally meant ‘trample’.
\ \ It probably comes via Anglo-Norman *fuler from Vulgar Latin *fullāre, a derivative of Latin fullōperson who cleans and bulks out cloth, originally by treading’ (whence English fuller [OE]). Foilmetallic paper’ [14] comes via Old French from Latin foliumleaf’ (source also of English foliage [15] and folio [16]). It originally meant ‘leaf’ in English too, but that usage died out in the 15th century. The modern notion of ‘one that enhances another by contrast’ comes from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to increase its brilliancy, (Latin folium, incidentally, goes back to an Indo-European *bhel-, an extended form of which, *bhlō-, produced English blade, bloom, blossom, and flower.) The source of foilsword’ [16] is not known, although the semantic development of blade from ‘leaf’ to ‘cutting part’ suggests the possibility that a similar process took place in the case of foilleaf’.
\ \ Cf.FULLER; BLADE, BLOOM, BLOSSOM, FLOWER, FOLIAGE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Foil — may refer to:Materials: * Metal leaf, a thin sheet of metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Plastic foil, a thin layer of plastics Fluid Mechanics: * Foil (fluid mechanics), a type of wing or blade used to provide lift * Foil… …   Wikipedia

  • Foil — Foil, n. [OE. foil leaf, OF. foil, fuil, fueil, foille, fueille, F. feuille, fr. L. folium, pl. folia; akin to Gr. ?, and perh. to E. blade. Cf. {Foliage}, {Folio}.] 1. A leaf or very thin sheet of metal; as, brass foil; tin foil; gold foil.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Foil — Foil, n. 1. Failure of success when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage. Milton. [1913 Webster] Nor e er was fate so near a foil. Dryden. [1913 Webster] 2. A blunt weapon used in fencing, resembling a smallsword in the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Foil — (foil), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Foiled} (foild); p. pr. & vb. n. {Foiling}.] [F. fouler to tread or trample under one s feet, to press, oppress. See {Full}, v. t.] 1. To tread under foot; to trample. [1913 Webster] King Richard . . . caused the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • foil — foil1 [foil] vt. [ME foilen < OFr fuler, to trample on, subdue: see FULL2] 1. to keep from being successful; thwart; frustrate 2. Hunting to make (a scent, trail, etc.) confused, as by recrossing, in order to balk the pursuers n. 1. Archaic… …   English World dictionary

  • foil — [ fɔjl ] n. m. • 1979; mot angl. « feuille, lame » ♦ Anglic. Plan porteur équipant les bateaux capables de déjauger. Foils latéraux de l hydroptère. ● foil nom masculin (anglais foil, feuille) Plan porteur inclinable destiné aux embarcations… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • FOIL — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda FOIL es un algoritmo usado en informática en el campo de la inteligencia artificial y más concretamente en el campo de la programación lógica inductiva (ILP) para aprender reglas de la lógica de primer orden que… …   Wikipedia Español

  • foil — Ⅰ. foil [1] ► VERB ▪ prevent the success of. ORIGIN originally in the sense «trample down»: perhaps from Old French fouler to full cloth, trample , from Latin fullo fuller . Ⅱ. foil [2] ► NOUN 1) metal h …   English terms dictionary

  • Foil — Foil, v. t. [See 6th {File}.] To defile; to soil. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • foil — I verb baffle, balk, be obstructive, bring to naught, cause to be nugatory, check, confound, counter, counteract, countermine, cripple, crush, dash, dash one s hopes, defeat, disable, disappoint, disrupt, eludere, frustrate, get in the way of,… …   Law dictionary

  • foil — [n] contrast antithesis, background, complement, counterblow, defense, guard, setting; concept 665 foil [v] circumvent, nip in the bud baffle, balk, beat, bilk, bollix*, buffalo*, check, checkmate, counter, crab, cramp, crimp, curb, dash, defeat …   New thesaurus

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