seward's folly | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

28 entries found.

early 13c., "mental weakness; foolish behavior or character; unwise conduct" (in Middle English including wickedness, lewdness, madness), from Old French folie "folly, madness, stupidity" (12c.), from fol (see fool (n.)). From c. 1300 as "an example of foolishness;" sense of "costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder" is attested from 1650s. But used much earlier, since Middle English, in place names, especially country estates, probably as a form of Old French folie in its meaning "delight." Related: Follies.

niceness (n.)

1520s, "folly, foolish behavior," from nice (q.v.) + -ness. Meaning "exactness" is from 1670s; that of "pleasantness" is from 1809.

fatuity (n.)

1640s, from French fatuité (14c.), from Latin fatuitatem (nominative fatuitas) "foolishness, folly," from fatuus "foolish, insipid" (see fatuous).

saeva indignatio

Latin phrase from Swift's epitaph; "savage indignation;" an intense feeling of contemptuous anger at human folly.

giddiness (n.)

late 13c., "thoughtless folly, flightiness," from giddy + -ness. Meaning "dizziness, vertigo" is from late 14c.

dizziness (n.)

Old English dysignesse, "folly;" see dizzy + -ness. From c. 1400 as "giddiness, whirling in the head."

insipience (n.)

early 15c., "lack of wisdom, foolishness," from Old French insipience (15c.) or directly from Latin insipientia "folly, unwisdom," from insipientem "unwise, foolish" (see insipient).

madness (n.)

late 14c., "insanity, lunacy, dementia; rash or irrational conduct, headstrong passion, extreme folly," from mad (adj.) + -ness. Sense of "foolishness" is from early 15c.

follies (n.)

"glamorous theatrical revue with lots of pretty girls," 1880, from French folies (mid-19c.), from folie (see folly), probably in its sense of "extravagance" (compare extravaganza).

foolish (adj.)

early 14c., from fool (n.1) + -ish. Older adjectives in Middle English were fool (c. 1200); folly (c. 1300). Old English words for this were dysig, stunt, dol. Related: Foolishly; foolishness.

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