English → Latin
“foil” in Latin
rudisrough, raw, uncultivated; unrefined, unskilled, awkward; rudebracteagold leaf (or other thin sheet of metal), foil; veneer; show, glitter
The English word foil itself goes back to Latin folium, through folia.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
foil s.
A blunt sword for fencing, rudis (with the ancients, a thin rod for fencing): gladius praepilatus (like our own foils, after Hirt., B. Afr., 72): to fence with foils, batuere armis pugnatoriis (Suet., Cal., 54).
Tinsel, bractea (thin metal sheet, especially of gold; diminutive, *bracteola auri tremuli; Vid: Juv., 13, 152). To coat a red jewel with silver foil, gemmam rubram argentea bractea sublinere.
That which recommends anything by contrast with itself, perhaps vitium virtuti contrarium, or circumlocution To set off anything by a foil, *rei pulchritudinem ipsa alterius rei deformitate illuminare; or *virtutem aliquam contrarii exemplo vitii commendare.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for foil?
- The usual Latin words for “foil” are rudis, bractea. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.