foin

See also: fóin

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪn

Etymology 1

From Old French foene (“harpoon, fizgig”), from Latin fuscina (“trident”).

Noun

foin (plural foins)

1. (archaic) A thrust.
   • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XXI, Chapter iiij, leaf 424r:

     And there kyng Arthur smote syr mordred vnder the shelde wyth a foyne of his spere throughoute the body more than a fadom.
     "And there King Arthur smote Sir Mordred under the shield, with a foin of his spear, throughout the body, more than a fathom."

   • 1600, Edward Fairfax (translator), Jerusalem Delivered, Tasso, XII, lv:

     They move their hands, steadfast their feet remain, / Nor blow nor foin they struck or thrust in vain.

Derived terms

• foinery

Verb

foin (third-person singular simple present foins, present participle foining, simple past and past participle foined)

1. (archaic) To thrust with a sword; to stab at.

   Synonyms: jab, run through; see also Thesaurus:stab

   • 1976, Robert Nye, Falstaff:

     These Fastulfrs and Falsts could drink as well as they could foin or fight, and this has also been the case with me.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 25:

     He stroke, he soust, he foynd, he hewd, he lasht,

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     They lash, they foin, they pass, they strive to bore / Their corselets, and the thinnest parts explore.

2. (archaic) To prick; to sting.

Etymology 2

From French fouine (“a marten”).

Noun

foin (plural foins)

1. The beech marten (Martes foina, syn. Mustela foina).
2. A kind of fur, black at the top on a whitish ground, taken from the ferret or weasel of the same name.
   • 1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC:

     He came to the stake in a fair black gown furred and faced with foins.

Anagrams

• Fino, Info., ONFI, fino, info, info-

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• fålln (Southern Bavarian)

Etymology

From Middle High German vallen, from Old High German fallan, from Proto-West Germanic *fallan, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *pōl-. Akin to German fallen, Low German fallen, Dutch vallen, English fall, Danish falde, Dutch falla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔen/
• Hyphenation: foin

Verb

foin (past participle gfoin) (Central Bavarian)

1. (intransitive) to fall; to drop
2. (intransitive, military) to die; to fall in battle; to die in battle; to be killed in action
3. (intransitive) to become lower, to decrease, to decline

Conjugation

Conjugation of foin

infinitive	foin
past participle	gfoin
	present	past	subjunctive
1st person singular	foi	—	fållad
2nd person singular	foist	—	fålladst
3rd person singular	foit	—	fållad
1st person plural	foin	—	fålladn
2nd person plural	foits	—	fållats
3rd person plural	foin	—	fålladn
	imperative
singular	foi
plural	foits

Derived terms

• auffafoin
• auffoin
• ausfoin
• außafoin
• außefoin
• außifoin
• danebnfoin
• eifoin
• einafoin
• einefoin
• einifoin
• gfoin
• herfoin
• hifoin
• iwafoin
• niederfoin
• nunterfoin
• owafoin
• owefoin
• owifoin
• schwafoin
• umfoin
• ummafoin
• ummefoin
• ummifoin
• verfoin
• vuafoin
• wegafoin
• zerfoin
• zruckfoin
• zuafoin
• zåmmfoin
• åfoin

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French foin, from Old French fein, from Latin fēnum, monophthongized variant of Latin faenum (“hay”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-no-, from *dʰeh₁(y)-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fwɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -wɛ̃

Noun

foin m (plural foins)

1. hay

Derived terms

• bête à manger du foin
• chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin
• faire tout un foin de
• meule de foin
• rhume des foins

Related terms

• faner
• fenaison
• fenasse
• fenil

Further reading

• “foin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• fion, info

Old French

Alternative forms

• fain
• fein

Etymology

From earlier fein, from Latin faenum.

Noun

foin oblique singular, m (oblique plural foinz, nominative singular foinz, nominative plural foin)

1. hay

Related terms

• fener

Descendants

• French: foin
• Norman: fain