Middle English Dictionary Entry
fō adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | fō adj. Also fa. |
| Etymology | OE fā, stem variant of fāh. Some quots. given under ME fō 'enemy' may belong here. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Hostile, unfriendly; (b) forbidding, threatening.
Associated quotations
a
- a1225(?OE) Vsp.A.Hom.(Vsp A.22)231 : Him a þance befell to under ʒeite wa an alle his cyne rice, him were frend oðer fend, hold oðer fa.
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)5.7252 : A fewe men it mihte kepe From al the world..Bot if the goddes weren fo.
- a1500 Ihesu þat hast (Lngl 29)14 : Swete ihesu, how myʒt þou soo Cal hym [Judas] þy frend, so fel & foo?
b
- c1400(?c1390) Gawain (Nero A.10)1430 : Hunterez hem hardened..Bitwene a flosche in þat fryth & a foo cragge.