fool

English Online Dictionary. What means fool‎? What does fool mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of fals and follis. Displaced native Old English dwæs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fuːl/
• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /fʉl/
• (Southern US) IPA^(key): /fʊu(l)/
• Homophones: full (accents with FOOT-GOOSE merger or full-fool merger), fall (accents with fool-fall merger)
• Rhymes: -uːl

Noun

fool (plural fools)

2. (derogatory) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
3. (historical) A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
   • 1896, Frederick Peterson IN Popular Science Monthly Volume 50 December 1896 , Idiots Savants

     This court fool could say bright things on occasion, but his main use to the ladies and lords of the palace was to serve as victim to practical jokes, cruel, coarse, and vulgar enough to be appreciated perhaps in the Bowery.

4. (literature) A stock character typified by unintelligence, naïveté or lucklessness, usually as a form of comic relief; often used as a source of insight or pathos for the audience, as such characters are generally less bound by social expectations.
5. Someone who has been made a fool of or tricked; dupe.
6. (informal) Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
   • 1975, Foghat, "Fool for the City" (song), Fool for the City (album):

     I'm a fool for the city.

7. (slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular, Hispanic) An informal greeting akin to buddy, dude, or man.
8. (tarot, often capitalized Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.

Synonyms

• (person with poor judgment): See also Thesaurus:fool
• (person who entertained a sovereign): jester, joker
• (person who has been made a fool of): dupe, mark, goat
• (person who derives pleasure from something specified): fan

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

fool (third-person singular simple present fools, present participle fooling, simple past and past participle fooled)

1. (transitive) To trick; to deceive.
2. (intransitive) To act in an idiotic manner; to act foolishly.
   • 1681/1682, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar

     Is this a time for fooling?
3. (archaic) To make a fool of; to make act the fool.
   • c. 1599 to 1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III.ii.384:

     They fool me to the top of my bent.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:deceive

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fool (comparative fooler or more fool, superlative foolest or most fool)

1. (informal) Foolish.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old French fouler (“to mix or mash”).

Noun

fool (plural fools)

1. (cooking) A type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.

   Coordinate term: mess

   an apricot fool; a gooseberry fool

Derived terms

References

Anagrams

• Olof, floo, loof

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“fool”)

Adjective

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“foolish”)

Etymology 2

Noun

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“foal”)

Rohingya

Etymology

From Sanskrit पागल (pāgala).

Noun

fool

1. mad man