foison

From Middle English foisoun, from Old French foison, from Latin fūsiōnem. Doublet of fusion.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɪzən/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪzən

foison (plural foisons)

1. (archaic) An abundance, a rich supply of.
   • 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:

     The earth did never mean her foizon
     For those who crown life’s cup with poison
     Of fanatic rage and meaningless revenge—
     But for those radiant spirits, who are still
     The standard-bearers in the van of Change.

2. (archaic) Harvest.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 7:

     Gon. […] Treaſon, fellony, / Sword, Pike, Knife, Gun, or neede of any Engine / Would I not haue : but Nature ſhould bring forth / Of it owne kinde, all foyzon, all abundance / To feed my innocent people.

3. (chiefly Scotland) Strength, power.

Inherited from Middle French foison, from Old French foison, inherited from Latin fūsiōnem. Doublet of fusion, a borrowing.

• IPA^(key): /fwa.zɔ̃/

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foison f (uncountable)

1. (dated) abundance, great deal, load

   J’ai foison de copines ― I've got plenty of girlfriends.

• à foison
• foisonner
  • foisonnant

• “foison”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Old French foison.

foison f (plural foisons)

1. much; a lot of

• French: foison

Inherited from Latin fūsiōnem.

foison oblique singular, f (oblique plural foisons, nominative singular foison, nominative plural foisons)

1. much; a lot of

• Middle French: foison
  • French: foison
• → Middle English: foisoun
  • English: foison