Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

foyer

/ˈfɔɪ.ɚ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.09 in modern English

Syllables: foy-er
IPA: /ˈfɔɪ.ɚ/

11

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A lobby, corridor, anteroom, or waiting room.

noun

A lobby, corridor, anteroom, or waiting room.

noun

The crucible or basin in a furnace which receives the molten metal.

noun

A hostel offering accommodation and work opportunities to homeless young people.

British usage

Example Sentences

"We had a drink in the foyer waiting for the play to start."
"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"
""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.""
"Near-synonym: vestibule"

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”).

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: foyer, *focārium, focārius, focus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈfɔɪ.ɚ/
British English: /ˈfɔɪ.eɪ/

Usage

British usage

Inflected Forms

foyers (plural)

Derived Forms

foyered foyerlike

Phrases

lawyer foyer

Synonyms

entrance hall vestibule anteroom antechamber hall lobby

Rhymes With

employer destroyer boyer hoyer moyer troyer scheuer goyer oyer multiemployer poyer shroyer

Questions

How do you pronounce foyer?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfɔɪ.ɚ/.
What does foyer mean?: A lobby, corridor, anteroom, or waiting room.
Where does foyer come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce foyer

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “foyer”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfɔɪ.ɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “foyer”.
Repeat and practice — Say “foyer” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.