Past tense of fool; to have deceived or tricked someone into believing something false.
From Old French 'fol' meaning 'mad person' or 'jester', ultimately from Latin 'follis' (bellows, windbag). The verb sense of deceiving developed from the idea of making someone act like a fool.
The evolution from 'fool' as a noun (jester) to a verb (to deceive) reflects how medieval court jesters, despite their comedic role, were often the wisest people in the room - they could speak truth through humor while others remained fooled by appearances.
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