English
refoul
Refoul comes from French refouler ‘to trample etc. again’, from fouler ‘to stamp, to impress, to dent’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘to inflate, blow, swell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-1‘to inflate, blow, swell’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfullō2‘fuller’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fullāre2‘to trample, to full’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400foler2‘to crush, act wickedly’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fouller2‘to trample, mill, fordo, mistreat’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfouler3‘to stamp, to impress, to dent’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentrefouler4‘to trample etc. again’
- Englishtodayrefoul4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin fullo
- 2 Wiktionary, French fouler
- 3 Wiktionary, French refouler
- 4 Wiktionary, English refoul
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-Wiktionary, Latin fullo‘to inflate, blow, swell’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfullōWiktionary, French fouler‘fuller’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fullāreWiktionary, French fouler‘to trample, to full’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400folerWiktionary, French fouler‘to crush, act wickedly’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600foullerWiktionary, French fouler‘to trample, mill, fordo, mistreat’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfoulerWiktionary, French refouler‘to stamp, to impress, to dent’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentrefoulerWiktionary, English refoul‘to trample etc. again’
- EnglishtodayrefoulWiktionary, English refoul
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘to inflate, blow, swell’
blood, blow, flower, blade, bless, bloom, floral, bleed, flora, blossom, flourish, folly, florist, fleur, folio, ferret, flor, belladonna, folic, exfoliate, trefoil, 53 more
through Latin fullō ‘fuller’
through Old French foler ‘to crush, act wickedly’
through French fouler ‘to stamp, to impress, to dent’
Today it means
verb To refuse entry to a country and repatriate (an immigrant or asylum-seeker)
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “refoul”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin fullo, French fouler, French refouler. 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 *bʰleh₃- / refoul