different between fool vs lie

English

Etymology

From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of follis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fu?l/
• Rhymes: -u?l

Noun

fool (plural fools)

1. (derogatory) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.

   You were a fool to cross that busy road without looking.

   The village fool threw his own shoes down the well.

   • 1743, Benjamin Franklin

     Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

   • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge Chapter 13

     ‘If I coloured at all, Mr Edward,’ said Joe, ‘which I didn’t know I did, it was to think I should have been such a fool as ever to have any hope of her. She’s as far out of my reach as—as Heaven is.’

   • 1895, Rudyard Kipling, If—

     If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
     ?Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools

   • 2001, Starsailor, Poor Misguided Fool

     You're just a poor misguided fool
     Who thinks they know what I should do
     A line for me and a line for you
     I lose my right to a point of view.

   • 2008, Adele, Crazy for You

     And every time I'm meant to be acting sensible
     You drift into my head
     And turn me into a crumbling fool.

2. (historical) A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
   • 1896, Frederick Peterson IN Popular Science Monthly Volume 50 December 1896 , Idiots Savants

     This court fool could say bright things on occasion, but his main use to the ladies and lords of the palace was to serve as victim to practical jokes, cruel, coarse, and vulgar enough to be appreciated perhaps in the Bowery.

3. (informal) Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes

     Can they think me […] their fool or jester?

   • 1975, Foghat, "Fool for the City" (song), Fool for the City (album):

     I'm a fool for the city.

4. (slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular) Buddy, dude, man.
   • 2010, G.C. Deuce, From the Gutter to the Grave: An American Hood Novel, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN), page 291:

     Upon opening the door, Trech was suddenly drawn aback by the shocking presence of the armed goon standing directly in front of him. “Yo, what up fool? […] ”

   • 2012, Peron Long, Livin' Ain't Easy, Urban Books (?ISBN)

     “What up, fool?” he finally responded. “Not too much; fell asleep watching your boys get their asses kicked,” I told him, referring to the Carolina Cougars, the last team he played for before he got sick.

   • 2014, Hitta Lo, Bracing Season I, Kaleidoscopic Publishing (?ISBN)

     Fame leaves out the house and walks to the BP gas station on Alabama Avenue. On the way there he sees his man Mark posted up at the rec center and walks over to holla at him. “What’s up fool?” Mark says while dapping Fame up.

   • 2018, Keith L. Bell, Drought Season Over: The Sequel, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN)

     “What up fool?” Lil Slim said noticing the seriousness in Lil Kilo’s voice. “You ain’t switched up on us have you.” Lil Fresh looked at Lil Kilo like where that come from. “Nigga I’ll neva switch up.” Lil Slim said feeling a little offended.

   • 2020, J. Lewis Johnson, A Dark Night in the Fieldhouse:

     [page 10:] "I knew you'd be scared," Reggie laughed. "What are you doin', foo? You must be crazy. You don't scare me." "Then why did you almost fall out of that chair? I scare everyone."

     [page 38:] "This is coo," said Fred. "It's almost like being there." "We are there, foo!" said Reggie as the boys slapped palms.

5. (cooking) A type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.

   an apricot fool; a gooseberry fool

6. (often capitalized, Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.

Synonyms

• (person with poor judgment): See also Thesaurus:fool
• (person who entertained a sovereign): jester, joker
• (person who talks a lot of nonsense): gobshite

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

fool (third-person singular simple present fools, present participle fooling, simple past and past participle fooled)

1. To trick; to deceive
   • 1918, Florence White Williams, The Little Red Hen

     She bit it gently and found that it resembled a worm in no way whatsoever as to taste although because it was long and slender, a Little Red Hen might easily be fooled by its appearance.
2. To act in an idiotic manner; to act foolishly
   • 1681/1682, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar

     Is this a time for fooling?

   • 1972, Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (page 56)

     She's always complaining that she got stuck with the worst possible committee. And that me and Jimmy fool more than we work.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:deceive

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fool (comparative fooler or more fool, superlative foolest or most fool)

1. (informal) Foolish.
   • 2011, Gayle Kaye, Sheriff Takes a Bride

     That was a fool thing to do. You could have gotten yourself shot

   • 1909, Gene Stratton-Porter, A Girl of the Limberlost

     Of all the fool, fruitless jobs, making anything of a creature that begins by deceiving her, is the foolest a sane woman ever undertook.

Derived terms

References

Anagrams

• Olof, floo, loof

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French fol (French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis.

Noun

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“fool”)

Adjective

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“foolish”)

Etymology 2

From Old English fola.

Noun

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“foal”)

Rohingya

Etymology

From Sanskrit ???? (p?gala)

Noun

fool

1. mad man

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la??/
• Rhymes: -a?
• Homophones: lye, lai

Etymology 1

From Middle English lien, liggen, from Old English li??an, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjan?, from Proto-Indo-European *leg?-.

Cognate with West Frisian lizze, Dutch liggen, German liegen, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ligge, Swedish ligga, Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian Nynorsk liggja, Gothic ???????????????????? (ligan); and with Latin lectus (“bed”), Irish luighe, Russian ??????? (ležát?), Albanian lag (“troop, band, encampment”).

As a noun for position, the noun has the same etymology above as the verb.

Verb

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay, past participle lain or (obsolete) lien)

2. (intransitive) To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
   • The watchful traveller […] / Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes.

   • 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

     Our uninquiring corpses lie more low / Than our life's curiosity doth go.
3. (intransitive) To be placed or situated.
4. (intransitive, copulative) To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.

5. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.
   • He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labour, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen.

6. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
7. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
8. (archaic) To lodge; to sleep.
   • 1632, John Evelyn, diary, entry 21 October 1632

     While I was now trifling at home, I saw London, […] where I lay one night only.

   • Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night.

9. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
10. (law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.
    • 1737, lies%20in%20this%20case%22&f=false Cart against Marsh (legal case)

      An appeal lies in this case from the ordinary to the arches.

Conjugation

Usage notes

See the usage notes at lay.

Derived terms

Related terms

• lay, a corresponding transitive version of this word
• lees
• lier

Translations

Noun

lie (plural lies)

1. (golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the ball before it is struck.
2. (disc golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the disc before it is thrown.
3. (medicine) The position of a fetus in the womb.
4. A manner of lying; relative position.
5. An animal's lair.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English lien (“to lie, tell a falsehood”), from Old English l?ogan (“to lie”), from Proto-West Germanic *leugan, from Proto-Germanic *leugan? (“to lie”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewg?- (“to lie, swear, bemoan”).

Cognate with West Frisian lige (“to lie”), Low German legen, lögen (“to lie”), Dutch liegen (“to lie”), German lügen (“to lie”), Norwegian ljuge/lyge (“to lie”), Danish lyve (“to lie”), Swedish ljuga (“to lie”), and more distantly with Bulgarian ???? (l?ža, “to lie”), Russian ????? (lgat?, “to lie”), ???? (lož?, “falsehood”).

Verb

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past and past participle lied)

2. (intransitive) To give false information intentionally with intent to deceive.

   While a principle-based approach might claim that lying is always morally wrong, the casuist would argue that, depending upon the details of the case, lying might or might not be illegal or unethical. The casuist might conclude that a person is wrong to lie in legal testimony under oath, but might argue that lying actually is the best moral choice if the lie saves a life.^WP

3. (intransitive) To convey a false image or impression.

4. (intransitive, colloquial) To be mistaken or unintentionally spread false information.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• prevaricate

Derived terms

• belie
• liar
• lie along
• lie through one's teeth

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English lie, from Old English ly?e (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Germanic *lugiz (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewg?- (“to tell lies, swear, complain”). Cognate with Old Saxon luggi (“a lie”), Old High German lug?, lugin (“a lie”) (German Lüge), Danish løgn (“a lie”), Bulgarian ????? (l?žá, “? lie”), Russian ???? (lož?, “? lie”).

Noun

lie (plural lies)

1. An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.

   Synonyms: alternative fact, bullshit, deception, falsehood, fib, leasing, prevarication; see also Thesaurus:lie

   Antonym: truth

2. A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true.

   Synonym: half-truth

3. (by extension) Anything that misleads or disappoints.
   • 1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, the Story of Justin Martyr

     Wishing this lie of life was o'er.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• lie on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• %ile, -ile, EIL, Eli, Ile, Lei, Lei., ile, lei

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lie?/, [?lie??]
• IPA^(key): /?lie??/, [?lie??(?)]
• Rhymes: -ie
• Syllabification: lie

Verb

lie

1. (colloquial) third-person singular potential present of olla

   Se on missä lie.

   It's somewhere. / I wonder where it is.

   Tai mitä lie ovatkaan

   Or whatever they are.

Usage notes

• This form is chiefly used in direct and indirect questions.

Synonyms

• (3rd-pers. sg. potent. pres. of olla; standard) lienee

Anagrams

• eli, lei

French

Etymology

Probably from Transalpine Gaulish *liga (“silt, sediment”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg?- (“to lie, to lay”).

Noun

lie f (plural lies)

1. lees, dregs (of wine, of society)

Verb

lie

1. inflection of lier:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative
   2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   3. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “lie” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• île

Mandarin

Romanization

lie (Zhuyin ????)

1. Pinyin transcription of ?

lie

1. Nonstandard spelling of li?.
2. Nonstandard spelling of lié.
3. Nonstandard spelling of li?.
4. Nonstandard spelling of liè.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Old French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin lias (“lees, dregs”) (descent via winemaking common in monasteries), from Gaulish *ligy?, *legy? (“silt, sediment”) (compare Welsh llai, Old Breton leh (“deposit, silt”)), from Proto-Celtic *legy? (“layer”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg?- (“to lie”).

Noun

lie f (oblique plural lies, nominative singular lie, nominative plural lies)

1. dregs; mostly solid, undesirable leftovers of a drink

Descendants

• ? English: lees

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *l?wanks (compare *l?wos), from Proto-Indo-European *leh?w- (“stone”) (compare Ancient Greek ???? (lâas, “stone”), Albanian lerë (“boulder”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l??i.e/

Noun

lie m (genitive lïac(c))

1. a stone
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 4^d15

   • c. 845, St. Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 65^a1

Declension

Descendants

• ? Breton: liac'h
• Middle Irish: lía
  • Irish: lia

Mutation

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “1 lía”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Spanish

Verb

lie

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of liar.
2. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of liar.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish l?e, l?, from Old Norse lé, from Proto-Germanic *lewô, from Proto-Indo-European *leu- (“to cut”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li??/

Noun

lie c

1. scythe; an instrument for mowing grass, grain, or the like.

Declension

Related terms

• lieblad
• liehugg
• lieknagg
• lieknagge
• lieman
• lieorv
• lieskaft
• lietag

References

• lie in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)