Etymograph

English

foy

Foy comes from Middle French foy ‘faith’, and goes back to Latin fidem.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfidem1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400foi2‘faith’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600foy3‘faith’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1590foy3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old French foi
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle French foy
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English foy
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto X: “He Easterland subdewd, and Danmarke wonne, / And of…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfidemWiktionary, Old French foi
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400foiWiktionary, Middle French foy‘faith’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600foyWiktionary, English foy‘faith’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1590foyWiktionary, English foy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto X: “He Easterland subdewd, and Danmarke wonne, / And of…”

Linked words

through Latin fidem

faith

through Old French foi ‘faith’

fay

through Middle French foy ‘faith’

foi

Today it means

noun Faith, allegiance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “foy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old French foi, Middle French foy. 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 fidem / foy

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