fell

See also Fell

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɛl/, SAMPA: /fEl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• 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-Germanic *fallijanan (“to fell”, literally “cause to fall”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallanan (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl- (“to fall”). Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“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.
   • 2011 October 2, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke”, BBC Sport Wales:

     Sinclair opened Swansea's account from the spot on 8 minutes after a Ryan Shawcross tackle had felled Wayne Routledge.

Translations

to make something fall

Czech: kácet (cs), skácet (cs) Dutch: vellen (nl) Esperanto: dehaki (eo) Finnish: kaataa, hakata (poikki) (a tree) French: abattre (fr)

German: fällen (de) Portuguese: abater (pt), derrubar (pt) Russian: валить (ru) (valít’) impf., повалить (ru) (povalít’) pf. Spanish: talar (es) Swedish: fälla (sv)

Verb

fell

1. Simple past of fall.

Etymology 2

Middle English fell (“hide, skin, fell”) from Old English fell (“hide, skin, pelt”), from Proto-Germanic *fellan (compare West Frisian fel, Dutch, vel, German Fell), from Proto-Indo-European *pélno 'skin, animal hide' (compare Latin pellis 'skin', Lithuanian plėnė 'skin', Russian plená 'pelt', Albanian plah 'to cover', Ancient Greek péllas 'skin').

The fell, or stitched down portion of a kilt

Noun

fell (plural fells)

1. That portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down
2. An animal skin, hide

Translations

portion of a kilt

Finnish: vyötärö (fi)

animal hide

Finnish: talja (fi), vuota (fi)

Swedish: fäll (sv) c.

Verb

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

1. (sewing) To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.
   • 2006, Colette Wolff, The Art of Manipulating Fabric, p. 296

     To fell seam allowances, catch the lining underneath before emerging 1/4" (6mm) ahead, and 1/8" (3mm) to 1/4" (6mm) into the seam allowance.

Wikipedia

Etymology 3

From Old Norse fell, fjall (“rock, mountain”), from Proto-Germanic *felzan, *fel(e)zaz (compare German Felsen 'boulder, cliff', Middle Low German vels 'hill, mountain'), from Proto-Indo-European *pelso (compare Irish aile 'boulder, cliff', Latin Palatium, Ancient Greek palléa, pélla 'stone', Pashto parša 'id.', Sanskrit pāşāņá 'id.')

Noun

fell (plural fells)

1. (archaic, except, UK) A rocky ridge or chain of mountains.
2. (archaic, except, UK) A wild field or upland moor

Translations

rocky ridge

Finnish: tunturi (fi), kukkula (fi), vaara (fi), mäki (fi) Norwegian: fjell (no) n.

Swedish: fjäll (sv) n.

wild field or upland moor

Etymology 4

From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-Germanic *faliz, *felaz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”), from Proto-Indo-European *pol- (“to pour, flow, swim, fly”). Cognate with Old Frisian fal (“cruel”), Old Dutch fel (“wrathful, cruel, bad, base”), Danish fæl (“disgusting, hideous, ghastly, grim”), Middle High German vālant (“imp”). See felon.

Adjective

fell (comparative feller, superlative fellest)

1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eagre and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.

   one fell swoop

   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XIX:

     No words had been exchanged between Upjohn and self on the journey out, but the glimpses I had caught of his face from the corner of the eyes had told me that he was grim and resolute, his supply of the milk of human kindness plainly short by several gallons. No hope, it seemed to me, of turning him from his fell purpose.

2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent; clever.
3. Having an extremely cruel or irrational trait.

Adverb

fell (comparative more fell, superlative most fell)

1. Sharply; fiercely.

Derived terms

• fellness

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: mean · manner · following · #386: fell · different · care · war

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Icelandic

Etymology

Old Norse

Noun

fell n.

1. hill

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Old English

Etymology

Proto-Germanic *fellan, whence also Old High German vel

Noun

fell n.

1. fell
2. skin