felly

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfɛli/

Etymology 1

Middle English fely, from Old English felge, dative of felg, from Proto-Germanic *felgōn (cf. East Frisian feelge, Dutch velg, German Felge), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥g̑ʰ- (cf. Polish płoza 'sliding iron', Old Church Slavonic plĭzati 'to creep, crawl').

Noun

felly (plural fellies)

1. The outer rim of a wheel, supported by the spokes.
   • 1602, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, act 2 scene 2 lines 426-430:

     all you Gods, / In generall Synod take away her power: / Breake all the Spokes and Fallies from her wheele [...].

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     The felly harshed against the curbstone: stopped.

Alternative forms

• felloe

Etymology 2

From fell +‎ -ly.

Adverb

felly (comparative more felly, superlative most felly)

1. (now rare) Fiercely, harshly.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vi:

     Ioues dreaded thunder light / Does scorch not halfe so sore, nor damned ghoste / In flaming Phlegeton does not so felly roste.