foyer

See also: Foyer and foþer

English

A foyer in an opera house

Etymology

Borrowed from French foyer (“hearth, lobby”), in turn from Vulgar Latin *focārium, from Late Latin focārius, from Latin focus (“hearth”). Cognate with Spanish hogar (“home”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɪ.eɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɪ.ɚ/, (also) /ˈfɔɪ.eɪ/, /fɔɪˈeɪ/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɪ.ə/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪ.ə(ɹ)

Noun

foyer (plural foyers)

1. A lobby, corridor, anteroom, or waiting room.
   1. Such a space used in a hotel, theater, etc.

      Synonym: entrance hall

      We had a drink in the foyer waiting for the play to start.

      • 2012, Taylor Swift, “The Lucky One”, in Red (Taylor's Version)‎^[1], published 2021:

        Now it's big black cars and Riviera views / And your lover in the foyer doesn't even know you / And your secrets end up splashed on the news front page

      • 2023 October 14, HarryBlank, “Face Time”, in SCP Foundation‎^[2], archived from the original on 23 May 2024:

        "He's been waiting to jump my brain-bones since I left R&E. I could feel him hammering on the door." She trotted to the nearest wall and knocked on it for emphasis. "But whatever it is that makes us remember the good old days, it also makes us impossible to possess now. That's why Willie and I both woke up, and why Noè never got taken out by Mukami. So all I had to do was open my mind up to the guy, invite him in, then... gas the foyer, as it were."

   2. Such a space in a residence (house or apartment).

      Near-synonym: vestibule

2. The crucible or basin in a furnace which receives the molten metal.
3. (UK) A hostel offering accommodation and work opportunities to homeless young people.

Derived terms

• foyered
• foyerlike
• lawyer foyer

Translations

lobby, corridor, or waiting room

• Afrikaans: ingangsportaal, foyer
• Albanian: pojatë f, treme (sq) f
• Arabic: بَهْو m (bahw)
• Armenian: ճեմասրահ (hy) (čemasrah), ֆոյե (hy) (foye)
• Belarusian: фае́ n (fajé)
• Bulgarian: фоайе́ (bg) n (foajé)
• Carpathian Rusyn: фойе́ n (fojé)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 門廳 / 门厅 (zh) (méntīng), 休息室 (zh) (xiūxishì)

• Czech: foyer (cs) m
• Danish: foyer c
• Dutch: foyer (nl) m
• Finnish: aula (fi), lämpiö (fi)
• French: foyer (fr) m
• Galician: subeira f, sanguán m, andadeiro m
• Georgian: ფოიე (poie)
• German: Foyer (de) n
• Greek: φουαγιέ (el) n (fouagié)
• Hebrew: פואייה / פוּאָיֶה m (fuayé), מְבוֹאָה f (m'vo'á)
• Hungarian: előcsarnok (hu), előtér (hu), hall (hu), társalgó (hu)
• Icelandic: anddyri (is) n, forsalur m, forstofa (is) f, fordyri n, forbyrgi n
• Indonesian: foyer (id)
• Irish: forhalla m
• Italian: ridotto (it) m, foyer (it) m
• Japanese: 玄関 (ja) (genkan)
• Macedonian: фоаје́ n (foajé)
• Māori: roro, tomokanga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: foajé (no) m, foaje m

  Nynorsk: foajé m, foaje m

• Pannonian Rusyn: фоає m (foaje)
• Polish: foyer (pl) n
• Portuguese: saguão (pt) m
• Russian: фойе́ (ru) n (fojjé)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фоа̀је̄ n, предсобље n

  Latin: foàjē (sh) n, predsoblje (sh) n

• Slovak: foyer m or n
• Slovene: foyer m
• Spanish: zaguán (es) m, foyer (es) m, vestíbulo (es) m
• Swedish: foajé (sv) c, entré (sv) c
• Tagalog: ulutan
• Turkish: fuaye (tr)
• Ukrainian: фойє́ n (fojjé), фоє (uk) n (foje)

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from French foyer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfoajɛː]
• IPA^(key): [ˈfoajɛːr]

Noun

foyer m inan or n

1. theater lobby, foyer

Declension

when masculine:

Declension of foyer (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	foyer	foyery
genitive	foyeru	foyerů
dative	foyeru	foyerům
accusative	foyer	foyery
vocative	foyere	foyery
locative	foyeru	foyerech
instrumental	foyerem	foyery

Indeclinable when neuter.

Danish

Etymology

Via French foyer.

Noun

foyer c (singular definite foyeren, plural indefinite foyerer)

1. foyer, lobby

Declension

Declension of foyer

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	foyer	foyeren	foyerer	foyererne
genitive	foyers	foyerens	foyerers	foyerernes

See also

• hall
• forhal

References

• “foyer” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French foyer, from Middle French [Term?], from Old French foier, from Vulgar Latin *focārium, from Late Latin focārius, from Latin focus (“hearth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʋɑˈjeː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: foy‧er
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

foyer m (plural foyers, diminutive foyertje n)

1. foyer (lobby, waiting room or parlour)

Related terms

• focus

French

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *focārium, nominalization of the Late Latin adjective focārius, from Latin focus (“hearth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fwa.je/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Agen)):

  (file)

Noun

foyer m (plural foyers)

1. hearth
2. lobby, foyer
3. home, domicile
4. household
5. source, centre, seat

Derived terms

• homme au foyer
• femme au foyer

Related terms

• feu

Descendants

• → Crimean Tatar: foye
• → Czech: foyer
• → English: foyer
• → Danish: foyer
• → German: Foyer
• → Italian: foyer
• → Norwegian Bokmål: foajé
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: foajé
• → Polish: foyer
• → Russian: фойе́ (fojjé) (see there for further descendants)
• → Slovak: foyer
• → Spanish: foyer
• → Serbo-Croatian: foaje
• → Turkish: fuaye

Further reading

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

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from English foyer, from French foyer (“hearth, lobby”), from Vulgar Latin *focārium, from Late Latin focārius, from Latin focus (“hearth”). Doublet of fokus.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈfojər/ [ˈfo.jər]
• Rhymes: -ojər
• Syllabification: fo‧yer

Noun

foyer (plural foyer-foyer)

1. (real estate) foyer

Further reading

• “foyer”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Polish

foyer

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French foyer, from Vulgar Latin *focārium, nominalization of the Late Latin adjective focārius, from Latin focus. Doublet of fokus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fwaˈjɛ/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: fo‧yer

Noun

foyer n (indeclinable)

1. foyer (lobby, corridor, or waiting room)

Further reading

• “foyer”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “foyer”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Slovak

Etymology

Borrowed from French foyer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔajeː/, [ˈfɔajeː]
• Rhymes: -ajeː

Noun

foyer m inan or n

1. foyer

Usage notes

Indeclineable in the neuter gender.

Declension

Declension of foyer
(pattern dub)

	singular	plural
nominative	foyer	foyery
genitive	foyeru	foyerov
dative	foyeru	foyerom
accusative	foyer	foyery
locative	foyeri	foyeroch
instrumental	foyerom	foyermi

Further reading

• “foyer”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English foyer or French foyer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fwaˈje/ [fwaˈje]
  • Rhymes: -e

 

• IPA^(key): /foˈʝeɾ/ [foˈʝeɾ]

• IPA^(key): /foˈʝeɾ/ [foˈʝeɾ] (everywhere but Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay, northern Mexico, Yucatán and Central America (except Panama))
• IPA^(key): /foˈʃeɾ/ [foˈʃeɾ] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /foˈʒeɾ/ [foˈʒeɾ] (elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /foˈeɾ/ [foˈeɾ] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• • Rhymes: -eɾ
  • Syllabification: fo‧yer

Noun

foyer m (plural foyers or foyer)

1. foyer

Further reading

• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “foyer”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA