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- Borrowed from French in the 1600s, the word originally referred to the weakest part of a fencing sword, that part being the portion between the middle and the pointed tip. The English foible soon came to be applied not only to weaknesses in blades but also to minor failings in character.
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The earliest known use of the word foible is in the mid 1600s. OED's earliest evidence for foible is from before 1648, in the writing of Edward Herbert, diplomat and philosopher.
Sep 28, 2017 · foible (n.) 1640s, "weak point of a sword blade" (contrasted to forte ), from French foible "a weak point, a weakness, failing," from noun use of Old French adjective feble "feeble" (see feeble ).
But forte is not the only word we get from the sword. Conversely, the weakest part of the blade—the part between the middle and the point—is called the foible. That word came to English through French, from the Old French feble, meaning “feeble.”
Borrowed from French in the 1600s, the word originally referred to the weakest part of a fencing sword, that part being the portion between the middle and the pointed tip. The English foible soon came to be applied not only to weaknesses in blades but also to minor failings in character.
Word Origin late 16th cent. (as an adjective in the sense ‘feeble’): from obsolete French, in Old French fieble, from Latin flebilis ‘lamentable’, from flere ‘weep’. This sense also formerly occurred as a sense of the word feeble and dates from the 17th cent.
It is believed to have originated from the French word 'faible,' which means 'weak' or 'feeble.' In its early use in English, 'foible' referred to a minor weakness or failing in a person's character or behavior, often used in a somewhat playful or endearing manner.
FOIBLE definition: 1. a strange habit or characteristic that is seen as not important and not harming anyone: 2. in…. Learn more.
