What does foule mean?
Foule is an unusual English word with two quite different lives. In Scottish usage, it is a contemptuous noun for a dirty, disreputable, or thoroughly contemptible person. In older English literature, however, foule was also a noun for a crowd or mob, and the word can appear archaically as a spelling of the adjective foul. These senses should not be flattened into one modern meaning: the Scottish noun carries personal abuse, while the historical noun is social and collective, and the adjective describes something dirty, unfair, or objectionable. The word is therefore chiefly interesting as a regional and historical survival rather than as standard current vocabulary outside Scottish English. It appears in older translations and literary texts in the crowd sense, while modern Scottish writing may use it as a forceful personal insult. Recognizing foule also helps readers understand older English and the varied development of English from Middle English, French, and Germanic sources.
Chiefly Scottish: a contemptible or disreputable person. In archaic English, a crowd or mob.
"The speaker accused the informer of being a foul."
The Scottish noun is strongly derogatory; the crowd sense is restricted to archaic and historical usage.
An archaic spelling of the adjective foul, meaning dirty, unfair, objectionable, or morally corrupt.
"The chamber was foule with smoke and the smell of decay."
This form occurs in older writing and should not normally be used in modern standard English.
Foules is the regular plural, though the archaic crowd sense is now encountered chiefly in historical texts.
"Several foules gathered in the square as the bells began to ring."
One old word can mean both a crowd and a thoroughly contemptible individual, depending on where you meet it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does foule come from?
The English noun has more than one historical path. The archaic sense “crowd, mob” comes through Middle English foule from Old French foule, whereas the Scottish sense “scoundrel” developed from the older Germanic adjective foul, found in Old English as fūl. English foul, German faul, and Dutch vuil are cognates of that adjective, while the Old French source is also ancestral to modern French foule.
How foule is actually used
The personal-insult sense is chiefly Scottish and is strongly contemptuous. The crowd sense and adjective spelling belong mainly to archaic or historical English and are uncommon in contemporary British or American usage.
Easily confused with foule
Foule is a Scottish noun for a contemptible person and an archaic noun for a crowd, whereas foul is the standard English adjective meaning dirty, unfair, or objectionable.
A foule is a disreputable or contemptible person, while a fool is someone regarded as unwise or foolish.