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What is the difference between foe and enemy?

foe | enemy | Synonyms |

Enemy is a antonym of foe.

Enemy is a synonym of foe.



As adjectives the difference between foe and enemy

is that foe is hostile while enemy is of, relating to, or belonging to an enemy.

As nouns the difference between foe and enemy

is that foe is an enemy while enemy is someone who is hostile to, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, or intends injury to someone else.

As an initialism FoE

is friends of the Earth.

foe

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) fo 'foe; hostile', from earlier ifo 'foe', from (etyl) 'to hate, be hostile' (compare Middle Irish oech 'enemy, fiend', Latin piget 'he is annoying', Lithuanian piktas ‘evil’, Albanian pis ‘dirty, scoundrel’).

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Hostile.
  • *, vol.1, ch.23:
  • he, I say, could passe into Affrike onely with two simple ships or small barkes, to commit himselfe in a strange and foe countrie, to engage his person, under the power of a barbarous King.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An enemy.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foe s’ glee.}}
    Synonyms
    * (enemy) adversary, enemy, opponent
    Antonyms
    * (enemy) ally, friend

    Etymology 2

    An acronym of "fifty-one ergs", coined by Gerald Brown of Stony Brook University in his work with Hans Bethe.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A unit of energy equal to 1044 joules.
  • Anagrams

    *

    enemy

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia enemy) (enemies)
  • Someone who is hostile to, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, or intends injury to someone else.
  • He made a lot of enemies after reducing the working hours in his department.
    Crush the enemy !
  • A hostile force or nation; a fighting member of such a force or nation.
  • rally together against a common enemy .
  • An alliance of such forces.
  • Something harmful or threatening to another
  • * '>citation
  • The very thing the 16 skiers and snowboarders had sought — fresh, soft snow — instantly became the enemy . Somewhere above, a pristine meadow cracked in the shape of a lightning bolt, slicing a slab nearly 200 feet across and 3 feet deep. Gravity did the rest.

    Synonyms

    * foe * unfriend * adversary * nemesis * backfriend

    Antonyms

    * ally * friend

    Derived terms

    {{der3, archenemy , enemydom , enemyful , enemyhood , enemyish , enemyless , enemylike , enemyness , enemyship , enemywise}}

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • of, relating to, or belonging to an enemy
  • See also

    * nemesis

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * (l) 1000 English basic words ----