Etymograph

English

foi

Foi comes from French foi ‘Faith’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to command, to persuade, to trust’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-1‘to command, to persuade, to trust’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfidem1
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400foi1
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600foy1
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfoi2‘Faith’
  6. Englishtodayfoi2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French foi
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English foi

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-Wiktionary, French foi‘to command, to persuade, to trust’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfidemWiktionary, French foi
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400foiWiktionary, French foi
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600foyWiktionary, French foi
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfoiWiktionary, English foi‘Faith’
  6. EnglishtodayfoiWiktionary, English foi

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to command, to persuade, to trust’

federal, confidence, confident, federation, confederate, abide, fidelity, defiance, defy, affidavit, fiduciary, bode, confidant, confide, infidel, bide, fealty, diffident, perfidy, 26 more

through Latin fidem

faith

through Old French foi

fay

through Middle French foy

foy

Today it means

noun A depiction of a handshake.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “foi”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French foi. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- / foi

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