fool

views updated

fool1
A. one deficient in judgement or sense XIII; professional jester, clown XIV;

B. adj. foolish XIII; now only (exc. dial.) as attrib. use of the sb. ME. fōl sb. and adj. — OF. fol (mod. fou mad) :- L. follis bellows, inflated ball, (later fig.) ‘windbag’, empty-headed person.
Hence fool vb. play the fool, make a fool of XVI. foolery XVI. foolhardy XIII. — OF. folhardi ‘foolish-bold’. foolscap (fool's cap) cap of a professional fool; folio paper of a kind that orig. bore a watermark representing a fool's cap. XVII.

More From encyclopedia.com