food
UK [fuːd] · US [fu̟(ː)d] noun
Forms foods
- noun (uncountable) Any solid substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life. “The innkeeper brought them food and drink.”
- noun (countable) A foodstuff, a type of food.
- noun (uncountable, figuratively) Anything that nourishes or sustains. “The man's inspiring speech gave us food for thought.”
- noun (uncountable, MLE) Any illegal substance or illegal substances, drugs.
Synonyms
belly-timber chow comestible eats feed fodder foodstuff grub nosh nourishment provender scran sustenance victuals Synonyms: see Thesaurus:food aliment bait comestibles cuisine eatables nutrient solid food food for thought intellectual nourishment
Etymology
From Middle English fode, foode, from Old English fōda (“food”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōdō, from Proto-Germanic *fōdô (“food”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to guard, graze, feed”).
Cognate with Scots fuid (“food”), Low German föde, vöde (“food”), West Frisian fiedsel (“food”), Dutch voedsel (“food”) Danish føde (“food”), Swedish föda (“food”), Icelandic fæða, fæði (“food”), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (fōdeins, “food”), Latin pānis (“bread, food”), Latin pāscō (“feed, nourish”, verb). Related to fodder, foster.
Webster’s 1913
- noun What is fed upon; that which goes to support life by being received within, and assimilated by, the organism of an animal or a plant; nutriment; aliment; especially, what is eaten by animals for nourishment.
- noun Anything that instructs the intellect, excites the feelings, or molds habits of character; that which nourishes.
- verb To supply with food. [Obs.] Baret.
Etymology [OE. fode, AS. foda; akin to Icel. fæ\'eba, fæ\'ebi, Sw. föda, Dan. & LG. föde, OHG. fatunga, Gr. patei^sthai to eat, and perh. to Skr. pa to protect, L. pascere to feed, pasture, pabulum food, E. pasture. *75. Cf. Feed, Fodder food, Foster to cherish.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “food”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details