fell

English Online Dictionary. What means fell‎? What does fell mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

From Middle English fellen, from Old English fellan, fiellan (“to cause to fall, strike down, fell, cut down, throw down, defeat, destroy, kill, tumble, cause to stumble”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallijan, from Proto-Germanic *fallijaną (“to fell, to cause to fall”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂peh₃lH-.

Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“to fell”), Danish fælde (“to fell”), Norwegian felle (“to fell”).

Verb

fell (third-person singular simple present fells, present participle felling, simple past and past participle felled)

1. (transitive) To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
2. (transitive) To strike down, kill, destroy.
3. (sewing) To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.

Derived terms

• little strokes fell great oaks

Translations

Noun

fell (plural fells)

1. A cutting-down of timber.
2. The stitching down of a fold of cloth; specifically, the portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down.
3. (textiles) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.

Derived terms

• fell stitch

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English fell, fel, vel, from Old English fel, fell (“hide, skin, pelt”), from Proto-West Germanic *fell, from Proto-Germanic *fellą, from Proto-Indo-European *pél-no- (“skin, animal hide”).

See also West Frisian fel, Dutch vel, German Fell, Latin pellis (“skin”), Lithuanian plėnė (“skin”), Russian плена́ (plená, “pelt”), Albanian plah (“to cover”), Ancient Greek πέλλᾱς (péllās, “skin”). Related to film, felt, pell, and pelt.

Noun

fell (plural fells)

2. An animal skin, hide, pelt.
3. Human skin (now only as a metaphorical use of previous sense).

Derived terms

• fellmaker

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English fell, felle (“hill, mountain”), from Old Norse fell, fjall (“rock, mountain”), compare Norwegian Bokmål fjell 'mountain', Danish fjeld 'mountain', from Proto-Germanic *felzą, *fel(e)zaz, *falisaz (compare German Felsen 'boulder, cliff', Middle Low German vels 'hill, mountain'), from Proto-Indo-European *pels-; compare Irish aill (“boulder, cliff”), Ancient Greek πέλλα (pélla, “stone”), Pashto پرښه (parṣ̌a, “rock, rocky ledge”), Sanskrit पाषाण (pāṣāṇa, “stone”). Doublet of fjeld.

Noun

fell (plural fells)

2. (archaic outside Northern England, Scotland) A rocky ridge or chain of mountains.
3. (archaic outside Northern England, Scotland) A wild field or upland moor.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 4

From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), either from Old French fel or from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *fali, *falu, from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”). Cognate with Old Frisian fal (“cruel”), Middle Dutch fel (“wrathful, cruel, bad, base”), German Low German fell (“rash, swift”), Danish fæl (“disgusting, hideous, ghastly, grim”). Compare also Middle High German vālant (“imp”) and Dutch fel (“fierce, feisty, bitter”). See felon.

Adjective

fell (comparative feller, superlative fellest)

1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent
3. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Very large; huge.
4. (obsolete) Eager; earnest; intent.

Translations

Adverb

fell (comparative more fell, superlative most fell)

1. Sharply; fiercely.

Derived terms

• fellness

Etymology 5

Perhaps from Latin fel (“gall, poison, bitterness”), or more probably from the adjective above.

Noun

fell (uncountable)

1. (obsolete, rare) Anger; gall; melancholy.

Etymology 6

Noun

fell

1. (mining) The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting.

Etymology 7

Verb

fell

1. simple past of fall
2. (now colloquial) past participle of fall

References

Further reading

• Fell (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Fell in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *spesla, metathesized form of *spelsa, from Proto-Indo-European *pels- (“rock, boulder”), variant of *spel- (“to cleave, break”). Compare Latin hydronym Pelso, Latin Palatium, Pashto پرښه (parša, “rock, rocky ledge”), Ancient Greek πέλλα (pélla, “stone”), German Felsen (“boulder, cliff”). Mostly dialectal, used in Gheg Albanian.

Adverb

fell

1. deep, shallow

Derived terms

• fellë

Related terms

• fyell

Cornish

Etymology

Perhaps an alteration of Middle Cornish felen (under influence from Middle English fell), itself a mutation of Middle Cornish melen/milen, which being equivalent to the modern word milus (“brutal”).

Adjective

fell

1. grim; cruel; fierce

References

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛtl/
• Rhymes: -ɛtl

Etymology 1

From Old Norse fjall (“mountain”).

Noun

fell n (genitive singular fells, nominative plural fell)

1. isolated hill, isolated mountain

Declension

Etymology 2

Verb

fell

1. first-person singular present indicative active of falla

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

fell

1. Alternative form of fele (“good”)

Etymology 2

Noun

fell

1. Alternative form of fille

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

fell

1. imperative of felle

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Verb

fell

1. present of falle

Etymology 2

Verb

fell

1. imperative of fella

Old English

Alternative forms

• fel

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fell, whence also Old High German vel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fell/, [feɫ]

Noun

fell n

1. fell
2. skin

Old Norse

Verb

fell

1. inflection of falla:
   1. first-person singular present/past active indicative
   2. third-person singular past active indicative