entry
foid
/ˈfɔɪd/; /ˈɛfɔɪd/Clipped geological or incel-slang noun
From English, ultimately Germanic and Greek-derived scientific terminology feldspathoid (Feldspar-like mineral) + Modern English coinage femoid (Woman-like or female person).
Word Ancestry
Foid has two unrelated lives, which is a very internet-age kind of accident. In geology, it is an innocent clipped form of “feldspathoid,” a mineral name for rocks whose chemistry makes them resemble feldspar without having enough silica; a laboratory label has been chopped down to four letters. Online, however, “foid” became a clipping of “femoid,” a deliberately dehumanizing term used in incel communities for women, alongside formations such as “moid” for men. The two meanings have nothing to do with each other: one belongs on a petrographer’s slide, the other in a vocabulary of online misogyny. There is even an unrelated Old Irish form, foïd, linked in the supplied research to Proto-Celtic *woseti “key”—a reminder that identical-looking words can be strangers wearing the same coat. If you remember one thing, remember the split: a geological foid is a mineral abbreviation; an incel “foid” is a loaded insult, not neutral slang.
The Story
Foid has two unrelated lives, which is a very internet-age kind of accident. In geology, it is an innocent clipped form of “feldspathoid,” a mineral name for rocks whose chemistry makes them resemble feldspar without having enough silica; a laboratory label has been chopped down to four letters. Online, however, “foid” became a clipping of “femoid,” a deliberately dehumanizing term used in incel communities for women, alongside formations such as “moid” for men. The two meanings have nothing to do with each other: one belongs on a petrographer’s slide, the other in a vocabulary of online misogyny. There is even an unrelated Old Irish form, foïd, linked in the supplied research to Proto-Celtic *woseti “key”—a reminder that identical-looking words can be strangers wearing the same coat. If you remember one thing, remember the split: a geological foid is a mineral abbreviation; an incel “foid” is a loaded insult, not neutral slang.
Modern Usage
An offensive incel-slang clipping of femoid, used derogatorily for a woman
Popularized by: Online incel communities
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries for foid
Kin & Kindred
From 'feldspathoid'·Feldspar-like mineral
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'femoid'·Woman-like or female person, in hostile slang
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary