foal

Meanings

Noun

• A young horse or other equine, especially just after birth or less than a year old.
• A young boy who assisted the headsman by pushing or pulling the tub.

Verb

• To give birth to (a foal); to bear offspring.

Origin

• From Middle English fole, from Old English fola, from Proto-West Germanic *folō, from Proto-Germanic *fulô, from pre-Germanic *pl̥Hon-, from Proto-Indo-European *pōlH- ("animal young") (cognate with Saterland Frisian Foole, West Frisian fôle, foalle, Dutch veulen, German Low German Fohl, German Fohlen, Swedish fåle; compare also Ancient Greek πῶλος, Latin pullus, Albanian pelë ("mare"), Old Armenian ուլ ("kid, fawn"). Related to filly.