Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
"FOOLS" is a plural of: fool. |
Date "FOOLS" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1050. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Fools (French, fol, Latin, follis.) (1) The most celebrated court fools: (a) Dagonet, jester of King Arthur; Rayère, of Henry I.; Scogan, of Edward IV.; Thomas Killigrew, called "King Charles's jester" (1611-1682); Archie Armstrong, jester in the court of James I. (died 1672). (b) Thomas Derrie, jester in the court of James I. (c) James Geddes, jester to Marry Queen of Scots. His predecessor was Jenny Colquhoun. (d) Patch, the court fool of Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII. (e) Will Somers, Henry VIII.'s jester. He died 1560. (f) W. F. Wallet, jester in the court of Queen Elizabeth. (g) Triboulet, jester of Louis XII. and Francois I. (1487-1536); Brusquet, of whom Brantôme says "he never had his equal in repartee" (1512-1563); Chicot, jester of Henri III. and IV. (1553-1591); Longely, of Louis XIII.; and Angeli, of Louis XIV., last of the titled fools of France. (h) Klaus Narr, jester of Frederick the Wise, elector of Prussia. (i) Yorick, in the Court of Denmark, referred to by Shakespeare in Hamlet, v. 1. (2) Not attached to the court: (a) Patrick Bonny, jester of the regent Morton; John Heywood, in the reign of Henry VII., dramatist, died 1505; Dickie Pearce, fool of the Earl of Suffolk, whose epitaph Swift wrote. (b) Kunz von der Rosen, private jester to the Emperor Maximilian I. (c) Gonnella the Italian (q.v.). (d) Le Glorieux, the jester of Charles le Hardi, of Burgundy. (e) Patche, Cardinal Wolsey's jester, whom he transferred to Henry VIII. as a most acceptable gift. (f) Patison, licensed jester to Sir Thomas More. Introduced by Hans Holbein in his picture of the chancellor. (3) Men worthy of the motley: (a) Andrew Borde, physician to Henry VIII., usually called Merry Andrew (1500-1549). (b) Gen. Kyaw, a Saxon officer, famous for his blunt jests. (c) Jacob Paul, Baron Gundling, who was laden with titles in ridicule by Frederick William I. of Prussia. (d) Seigni Jean (Old John), so called to distinguish him from Johan "fol de Madame," of whom Marot speaks in his epitaphs. Seigni Jean lived about a century before Caillette. (e) Richard Tarlton, a famous clown in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He died 1588. (f) Caillette "flourished" about 1494. In the frontispiece of the "Ship of Fools," printed 1497, there is a picture both of Seigni Jean and also of Caillette. Feast of Fools. A kind of Saturnalia popular in the Middle Ages. Its chief object was to honour the ass on which our Lord made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This ridiculous mummery was held on the day of circumcision (January 1). The office of the day was first chanted in travesty; then, a procession being formed, all sorts of absurdities, both of dress, manner, and instrumentation, were indulged in. An ass formed an essential feature, and from time to time the whole procession imitated the braying of this animal, especially in the place of "Amen." Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Crosswords: FOOLS |
| English words defined with "FOOLS": By heart ♦ Dutch tile ♦ First or last ♦ step ♦ tread. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "FOOLS": Calf-skin, Cap of Fools, Chronicle Small Beer, Court Fools, COXCOMB ♦ Dying Sayings ♦ Eccentricity, Eloquence, Expostulation ♦ GEOLOGY, Gotham, GRAPE ♦ history ♦ Intel 486SX, INTIMACY ♦ Jesters ♦ King ♦ Limbus Fatuorum, Luck for Fools ♦ Owlglass ♦ Platitude ♦ Sans Souci, spoofing, Stuck his Spoon in the Wall ♦ WIT, Wooden Sword. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Fools aren't born, Pongo (101 Dalmatians; writing credit: John Hughes) Just because we let them smelly fools ride us like horses don't mean we gotta let 'em brand us like horses (Unforgiven; writing credit: Walon Green; Roy N. Sickner) This so-called new religion is nothing but a pack of weird rituals and chants, designed to take away the money of fools. Now let's say the Lord's Prayer 40 times, but first, let's pass the collection plate (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) I'd say 2-300 horses, five or six wagons and about a thousand fools. (Willow; writing credit: Bob Dolman; George Lucas) Lord, what fools these mortals be (A Midsummer Night's Dream; writing credit: Charles Kenyon; Mary C. McCall Jr.) | |
Lyrics | Why do fools fall in love (Why Do Fools Fall In Love; performing artist: Diana Ross) Let's show these fools how we do it on this west side (California Love; performing artist: 2 PAC) These chicks runnin' around actin' like straight fools (I Do (Wanna Get Close To You); performing artist: 3LW) 'Cause a row of fools (Pop A Top; performing artist: Alan Jackson) Couple of fools run wild aren't we (Mad About You; performing artist: Belinda Carlisle) | |
Clever | Fools rush in and get all the best seats. (references; author: unknown) Fools look to tomorrow, wise men use tonight. (references; author: unknown) The greatest fool of all is the man who fools himself. (references; author: unknown) I have faith in fools. My friends call it self-confidence. (references; author: unknown) We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Fools (2003) The April Fools (1969) Ship of Fools (1965) Niagara Fools (1956) Two April Fools (1954) | |
Song Titles | Immaculate Fools (performing artist: Immaculate Fools) Why Do Fools Fall In Love (performing artist: Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | April fools and April showers. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Fools Gold" by Alex Furr Commentary: "Iron pyrites - also known as fools gold." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Alexander Pope | Fools admire, but men of sense approve. |
Benjamin Disraeli | Despair is the conclusion of fools. |
Desiderius Erasmus | Fools are without number. |
Jacques Du Lauren | I do not attack fools, but foolishness. |
John Heywood | Children and fools cannot lie. |
Lucius Annaeus Seneca | What fools these mortals be. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | Travel is a fools paradise. |
Thomas Carlyle | Twenty-seven millions, mostly fools. |
William Shakespeare | Lord, what fools these mortals be. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | At the Opera, just think, there are some who pay twenty sous, but they are fools. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Fools you. |
A Midsummer Night's Dream | William Shakespeare | Lord, what fools these mortals be |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | EXPOSTULATION, n. One of the many methods by which fools prefer to lose their friends. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "FOOLS" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 88.53% of the time. "FOOLS" is used about 340 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (plural) | 88.53% | 301 | 16,714 |
| Lexical Verb (-s form) | 11.18% | 38 | 55,818 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.29% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 340 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "FOOLS": all fools day ♦ april fools day ♦ fools errand ♦ fools gold ♦ fools paradise ♦ none but fools. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| Language | Translations for "FOOLS"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
German | Dummköpfe (asses, blockheads, dullards, dunces). (various references) | |
Greek | πρωταπριλιά (all fools day, april fool's day, first of april). (various references) | |
Hungarian | türelmes a hülyékkel (to suffer fools gladly), szemben (against, disrespect for sy, have the goods on sy, in front of, opposite, opposite/facing, oppositely, squarely, to be up against a difficult task, to forbear with sy, to fuss over sy, to give sy a chance, to make claims on sy, to show oneself ungrateful to sy, to suffer fools gladly, up against it, vis-à-vis, vis-ŕ-vis), hülyének áll a szerencse (fortune favours fools), elviseli mások hülyeségét (to suffer fools gladly). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 甘言は偶人を喜ばす (flattery works on puppets and fools, sweet words only please a fool). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | かんげんはぐうじんをよろこばす (flattery works on puppets and fools, sweet words only please a fool). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | oolsfay.(various references) | |
Russian | первое апреля (april fools day). (various references) | |
Turkish | sadece aptallar (none but fools), bir nisan (all fool's day, april fools day). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Proverbs Chapter 14, Verse 9 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Oikiai paranomwn ofeilhsousin kaqarismon oikiai de dikaiwn dektai |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Stultis inludet peccatum inter iustos morabitur gratia |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | The fool scorneth synne; among riytwis men grace shal wone. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favor. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | In the tents of those hating authority there is error, but in the house of the upright man there is grace. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Proverbs Chapter 14, Verse 9 |
| Cebuano | ¶ Ang mga buang magatiaw-tiaw lamang sa halad-tungod-sa-sala; Apan sa taliwala sa mga matarung adunay maayong kabubut-on. |
| Croatian | Luðacima je grijeh šala, a milost je Božja s poštenima. |
| Danish | Med Dårer driver Skyldofret Spot, men Velvilje råder iblandt retsindige. |
| Dutch | Elke dwaas zal de schuld verbloemen; maar onder de oprechten is goedwilligheid. |
| Finnish | Hulluja pilkkaa vikauhri, mutta oikeamielisten kesken on mielisuosio. |
| French | Les insensés se font un jeu du péché, Mais parmi les hommes droits se trouve la bienveillance. |
| German | Die Narren treiben das Gespött mit der Sünde; aber die Frommen haben Lust an den Frommen. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Orang bodoh tidak peduli apakah dosanya diampuni atau tidak; orang baik ingin diampuni dosanya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Bahwa orang bodoh kelak mencahari dalih-dalih akan salahnya, tetapi antara orang benar adalah pengasihan. |
| Italian | Fra gli stolti risiede la colpa, fra gli uomini retti la benevolenza. |
| Maori | ¶ Ko ta nga wairangi he kata ki te he: na kei te hunga tika te whakaaro pai. |
| Norwegian | Dårer spottes av sitt eget skyldoffer, men blandt de opriktige råder Guds velbehag. |
| Portuguese | A culpa zomba dos insensatos; mas os retos têm o favor de Deus. |
| Rumanian | Cei nesocotiyi glumesc cu pqcatul, dar kntre cei fqrq prihanq este bunqvoinyq. - |
| Russian | зМХРЩЕ УНЕАФУС ОБД ЗТЕИПН, Б РПУТЕДЙ РТБЧЕДОЩИ--ВМБЗПЧПМЕОЙЕ. |
| Spanish | Los insensatos se mofan de la culpabilidad, pero entre los rectos hay buena voluntad. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "FOOLS": foolscap, foolscaps. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "FOOLS": befools, outfools, tomfools. (additional references) | |
| |
"FOOLS" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: fasolt, Feola, floos, Fols, folse, folv, foofles, foons, foool, foos, Frolov, fules, fulls, Fuls, fulsy, jools, Ofos, zools. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "FOOLS" (pronounced fuw"lz) |
| 3 | -uw" l z | cools, joules, mules, pools, preschools, rules, schools, stools, tools. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: loofs. | |
| Words within the letters "f-l-o-o-s" | |
-1 letter: fool, loof, loos, solo. | |
-2 letters: loo, sol. | |
-3 letters: lo, of, os, so. | |
| Words containing the letters "f-l-o-o-s" | |
+1 letter: floods, floors, floosy, folios, kloofs, loofas. | |
+2 letters: befools, floosie, foliose, folious, follows, foolish, footles, foozles, formols, loofahs, shoofly. | |
+3 letters: blowoffs, boffolas, boiloffs, bookfuls, cowflops, floccose, flooders, floorers, floosies, floozies, foldouts, folkmots, folksong, foodless, foolfish, foolscap, footlers, footless, footslog, foozlers, foveolas, foveoles, foxholes, hoofless, monofils, mouflons, offloads, outflows, outfools, refloods, roofless, roomfuls, scoopful, seafloor, selfhood, spoonful, subfloor, tomfools, twofolds, witloofs. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Bible Trace 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
