Middle English Dictionary Entry

fǒul adj.
Quotations: Show all Hide all

Entry Info

Forms fǒul adj. Also ful, voul, fowel, fugel, feul, foyl.
Etymology OE fūl.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1a.
(a) Dirty, filthy, soiled; (b) maken ~, to void excrement; (c) ~ wei, a muddy road or path; (d) a miry place in a road or street; atte ~, at the muddy place, by the marsh; fair ne ~, for clean place or muddy.
Show 27 Quotations
1b.
(a) Rotten, carrion, decayed; (b) evil-smelling, stinking.
Show 12 Quotations
1c.
Ceremonially or religiously unclean, taboo; ~ and fair, unclean and clean (animals).
Show 3 Quotations
1d.
Med. and surg. (a) Of a wound or sore: gangrenous, mortified; also, festering, purulent; (b) of a humor: corrupt; (c) of a disease or injury: filthy, ugly; ?causing deformity or disfigurement, disfiguring.
Show 10 Quotations
2.
(a) Unattractive, ugly; as noun: ugliness; ~ colour (heu), ugly or unattractive color, discoloration; ~ fot, ~ foted, having an ugly or misshapen foot; ~ or fair, ugly or beautiful; (b) hideous, horrible; terrible to look upon; (c) harsh or disagreeable (to the ear, to touch); (d) of weather, sky, etc.: stormy; ~ weder; ~ and fair, storm and sunshine; (e) of speech, language, etc.: crude, unseemly, unbecoming, vile, indecent; ~ English, crude English, uncultivated or unpolished diction; ~ fame, evil report; ~ name, scandalous reputation; ~ speche, ~ speking, ~ wordes, vile words, lecherous speech, obscenity; ~ speker, a bawdy talker; ~ or fair, seemly or unseemly, decent or indecent.
Show 56 Quotations
3.
(a) Evil, sinful, wicked; ~ dede, sin; ~ delit, sinful pleasure; ~ lust, evil desire; ~ winning, ill-gotten gains; ~ or fair, good or evil action; (b) of sin, vice, crime: grievous, heinous, damnable; (c) of persons, etc.: guilty, sinful, wicked; ~ beyer, a dishonest buyer; ~ woman, an unchaste woman; ~ or clene, guilty or innocent; ~ and clene, sinners and righteous people; (d) ~ fend, a devil; the ~ fend, the Devil, Satan; (e) ~ wight, a demon, a devil; also, a monster, one who looks like a devil [quots. c1380, a1425]; the ~ wight, the Devil, Satan.
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4.
(a) Of persons: abject, low, miserable, wretched; ~ chere, an abject expression; (b) of animals: not well-grown, not in good condition, poor, feeble; ~ and lene, poor and lean; of inanimate things: of poor quality, worthless; ~ metal, a base metal; (c) of actions, events, occupations: miserable, unlucky, unfortunate, shameful; ~ affrai (assault), an evil or shameful attack; ~ deth (end, fin), an unfortunate death, a shameful or horrible death; fair and ~, fortunate and unfortunate; (d) as noun: bad luck, ill-fortune, injury; for ~ ne fair, neither for ill-fortune nor good.
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5.
In the marriage service: for fairer, for fouler, for better or for worse.
Show 2 Quotations
6.
In proverbs: Give your enemy a bad (or filthy or ugly) name; he who has dealings with the dirty (or wicked) never comes away clean; a feeble (or ugly or worthless) child and a fair dog; etc.
Show 5 Quotations

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • c1275(?c1250) Owl & N.(Clg A.9)236 : Alured king hit seide & wrot: He schunet þat hine wl wot.
    • Note: New spelling (error)
    Note: [Jes-O: ful]
  • ?a1150 Aelfric Gloss.(Trin-C B.15.34)436/379 : Fulan horan and byccan [alt. from: fracodan myltestran].
    • Note: New spelling
    Note: Antedates most senses
  • a1486 Sln.Bk.Hawking (Sln 3488)141 : For thou shalt fynde within him, as thoughit were the maw of a peion, and gader that oute and litte hit And then thou shalt finde within that a fowle mater.
    • Note: New spelling

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • ?a1425(c1380) Chaucer Bo.(Benson-Robinson)3.pr.4.45 : Yif a wykkyd wyght be in so mochel the fowlere and the more outcast [L abjectior; F plus vilz et plus degitéz] that he is despysed of moost folk, so as dignyte ne mai nat maken schrewes worthy of no reverence, the whiche schrewes dignyte scheweth to moche folk.
Note: Senses 2. ('indecent'), 3. ('heinous'). and 4. ('shameful') between them adumbrate a further sense, 'disreputable, odious, despicable,' which perhaps needs, if possible, to be sifted from among the existing examples as well as this one from Chaucer's Boece. The present example deals with the connection between external 'dignities' (such as high office) and virtue, the point being that a dishonest man loses rather than gains honor by being elevated into the sight of more people, becomes, in fact 'fouler and more outcast,' the doublet following the French in translating a single Latin word with two.

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