Other forms: forays
A foray is a brief venture into new territory or a new field. A foray into politics, a first foray, make a foray.
The figurative sense has all but taken over: a foray into something is a short experimental attempt, and the phrasing implies it may not last. The military original was a raid for plunder rather than a battle.
1nounforayA brief venture into new territory or a new field.
“The actor's first foray into directing was a small film about his hometown.”
foray is a venture.
Middle English forrayen, to pillage, is a back-formation from forrier, a raider, from Old French.
Proto-Indo-European
*patrom — fodder
Proto-Germanic
*fōdrą — fodder, feed, sheath
Frankish
*fōdar — fodder, sheath
Old French
forrier
Middle English
forrayen — to pillage
English, today
foray
Built from
From Middle English forrayen (“to pillage”), a back-formation of forrayour, forreour, forrier (“raider, pillager”), from Old French forrier, fourrier, a derivative of fuerre (“provender, fodder, straw”), from Frankish fōdar (“fodder, sheath”), from Proto-Germanic fōdrą (“fodder, feed, sheath”), from Proto-Indo-European patrom (“fodder”), pat- (“to feed”), pāy- (“to guard, graze, feed”). Cognate with Old High German fuotar (German Futter (“fodder, feed”)), Old English fōdor, fōþer (“food, fodder, covering, case, basket”), Dutch voeder (“forage, food, feed”), Danish foder (“fodder, feed”), Icelandic fóður (“fodder, sheath”). More at fodder, food, forage.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA