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Vow vs Foe - What's the difference?

vow | foe |

As nouns the difference between vow and foe

is that vow is a solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order while foe is an enemy.

As a verb vow

is to make a vow; to promise.

As an adjective foe is

hostile.

As an initialism FoE is

friends of the Earth.

vow

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A solemn promise to perform some act, or behave in a specified manner, especially a promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order.
  • A declaration or assertion.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author= Sam Leith
    • , volume=189, issue=1, page=37, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where the profound meets the profane , passage=Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.}}

    Usage notes

    * One normally makes'' or ''takes'' a vow, or simply ''vows (see below). * Commonly mentioned vows include those of silence'', ''obedience'', ''poverty'', ''chastity'', and ''celibacy . * 'to keep/pay/fulfill a vow' = to honor a vow * 'to break a vow' = to dishonor a vow

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (ambitransitive) To make a vow; to promise.
  • * Bible, Eccl. v. 4
    • When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.
  • * Richard Baxter
    • We do not vow that we will never sin, nor neglect a duty (nor ought we to do so).
  • To make a vow regarding (something).
    • The wronged woman vowed revenge.
  • To declare publicly that one has made a vow, usually to show one's determination or to announce an act of retaliation.
    • The rebels vowed to continue their fight.

    Derived terms

    * exchange vows * take vows * vow of celibacy * vow of chastity * vow of silence * vow of poverty

    Related terms

    * devote * vote * votive

    External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

    *

    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

    *