English
foolish
Foolish comes from Middle English folisch ‘Foolish, erroneous, ridiculous’, from fol ‘fool’, and ultimately from Latin follis ‘bellows’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfollis1‘bellows’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fol1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fol2‘fool’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500folisch3‘Foolish, erroneous, ridiculous’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828foolish3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Middle English fol
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English folisch
- 3 Wiktionary, English foolish
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “His wife and the neighbours lamented over his strange…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfollisWiktionary, Middle English fol‘bellows’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400folWiktionary, Middle English fol
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500folWiktionary, Middle English folisch‘fool’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500folischWiktionary, English foolish‘Foolish, erroneous, ridiculous’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828foolishWiktionary, English foolish. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “His wife and the neighbours lamented over his strange…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‘to swell’
budget, belly, bloc, bulge, budge, bolster, bellows, billow, 14 more
through Latin follis ‘bellows’
through Old French fol
Today it means
adj Lacking good sense or judgement as a general trait; unwise; stupid.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “foolish”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English fol, Middle English folisch. 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 / Latin follis / foolish