fois

time (an instance or repetition of something happening)

“J'y vais cinq fois par mois.” — I go there five times a month.

Related: à la fois, des fois que, encore une fois, il était une fois, merci mille fois, ne pas se le faire dire deux fois, on ne vit qu'une fois, parfois, plutôt deux fois qu'une, pour une fois

Inherited from Middle French foys, from Old French foiz, from earlier feiz, from Latin vicem. The reason for the development of an initial /f/, instead of the expected /v/, is not entirely clear. It may be the result of voicing assimilation to the final consonants of numerals such as deus (“two”) or set (“seven”), which would have often preceded the word. Cognate with Portuguese and Spanish vez.

times, multiplied by

Inherited from Middle French foys, from Old French foiz, from earlier feiz, from Latin vicem. The reason for the development of an initial /f/, instead of the expected /v/, is not entirely clear. It may be the result of voicing assimilation to the final consonants of numerals such as deus (“two”) or set (“seven”), which would have often preceded the word. Cognate with Portuguese and Spanish vez.