kell

See also: Kell

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

Compare caul.

Noun

kell (plural kells)

1. (obsolete) The caul.
2. (obsolete, figurative) That which covers or envelops, like a caul; a net; a fold; a film.
   • Beaumont and Fletcher

     I'll have him cut to the kell.

3. (obsolete) The cocoon or chrysalis of an insect.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

Etymology 2

Noun

kell (plural kells)

1. A kiln.

Etymology 3

A modification of kale.

Noun

kell (uncountable)

1. A sort of pottage; kale.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ainsworth to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “kell”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

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Breton

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɛlː/

Etymology 1

From Latin cōleus (“testicle”) (compare Cornish kell, Welsh caill).

Noun

kell f (plural kelloù, dual divgell)

1. testicle

Etymology 2

From Latin cella (compare Old Irish cell).

Noun

kell f (plural kelloù or killi)

1. cell (of prisoner, monk):

Mutation

  Mutation of kell  

Breton consonant mutation
	unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
singular	kell	gell	c'hell	unchanged
plural	kelloù	gelloù	c'helloù	unchanged

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Cornish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kɛlː]
• IPA^(key): [kɛlʰ]

Etymology 1

From Latin cōleus (“testicle”) (compare Breton kell, Welsh caill).

Noun

kell f (dual diwgell, plural kellow or kellyow)

1. testicle

Etymology 2

From Latin cella (compare Old Irish cell).

Noun

kell f (plural kellow or kellyow)

1. cell

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Estonian

Etymology

From Swedish skälla.

Noun

kell (genitive kella, partitive kella)

1. clock
2. bell
3. (in the plural, colloquial) balls, testicles

Derived terms

• käekell

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Hungarian

Etymology

From Proto-Finno-Ugric *kelke- (“to be necessary, need to, must, be obligatory”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɛlː]

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

kell

1. (auxiliary with a verb in the infinitive) must, need to, have to

   Ezt látnod kell. ― You have to / need to / must see it.

2. to be needed

   Kell nekem az a ház. ― I need that house.

Usage notes

The subject of certain verbs is not someone who acts but a stimulus that prompts sensory or emotional feelings, like when things interest someone, matter to someone, please someone or appeal to someone. In these cases, the experiencer can take the accusative (e.g. interest) or the dative (e.g. appeal). The experiencer is expressed with the dative in the case of hiányzik (“to be missing or missed by someone”), ízlik (“to taste good”), kell (“to be needed, necessary, or required”), tetszik (“to be appealing”), and van/megvan (“to be had, to be owned by someone”).
If the experiencer is expressed with the accusative, third-person objects (him, her, it, or them) are considered definite, while first- and second-person objects (me, us, and you), indefinite. For example, the verb érdekel can take the definite form érdekli őt (“he/she is interested”, literally “it interests him/her”) or the indefinite form érdekel engem/​téged/​minket (“I am, you are, we are interested”, literally “it interests me, you, us”). The form érdekellek means “you are interested in me” (literally, “I interest you”). — Similar verbs include zavar (“to be bothered by”) and izgat (“to be intrigued by”).

Conjugation

conjugation of kell

Click for archaic forms			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal
Indica­tive mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	kellek	kellesz	kell	kellünk	kelletek	kellenek
		Def.	intransitive verb, definite forms are not used
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Past	Indef.	kellettem	kellettél	kellett	kellettünk	kellettetek	kellettek
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Future		Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. kelleni fog.
	Archaic Preterit	Indef.	kellék	kellél	kelle	kellénk	kellétek	kellének
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Archaic Past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. kell vala, kellett vala/volt.
	Archaic Future	Indef.	kellendek	kellendesz	kellend	kellendünk	kellendetek	kellendenek
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
Condi­tional mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	kellenék	kellenél	kellene	kellenénk	kellenétek	kellenének
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. kellett volna
Sub­junc­tive mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	kelljek	kellj or kelljél	kelljen	kelljünk	kelljetek	kelljenek
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	(Archaic) Past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. kellett légyen
Infinitive	kelleni		kellenem	kellened	kellenie	kellenünk	kellenetek	kelleniük
Other forms	Verbal noun		Present part.	Past part.	Future part.	Adverbial participle		Causative
	kellés		kellő	kellett	―	kellve (kellvén)

potential conjugation of kell

Click for archaic forms			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal
Indica­tive mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	kellhetek	kellhetsz	kellhet	kellhetünk	kellhettek	kellhetnek
		Def.	intransitive verb, definite forms are not used
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Past	Indef.	kellhettem	kellhettél	kellhetett	kellhettünk	kellhettetek	kellhettek
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Archaic Preterit	Indef.	kellheték	kellhetél	kellhete	kellheténk	kellhetétek	kellhetének
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Archaic Past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala, e.g. kellhet vala, kellhetett vala/volt.
	Archaic Future	Indef.	kellhetendek or kellandhatok	kellhetendesz or kellandhatsz	kellhetend or kellandhat	kellhetendünk or kellandhatunk	kellhetendetek or kellandhattok	kellhetendenek or kellandhatnak
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
Condi­tional mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	kellhetnék	kellhetnél	kellhetne	kellhetnénk	kellhetnétek	kellhetnének
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	Past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. kellhetett volna
Sub­junc­tive mood	Pre­sent	Indef.	kellhessek	kellhess or kellhessél	kellhessen	kellhessünk	kellhessetek	kellhessenek
		Def.	―
		2nd-p. o.	―
	(Archaic) Past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. kellhetett légyen
Inf.	(kellhetni)		(kellhetnem)	(kellhetned)	(kellhetnie)	(kellhetnünk)	(kellhetnetek)	(kellhetniük)
Positive adjective			―	Neg. adj.	―	Adv. part.	(kellhetve / kellhetvén)

Derived terms

• kellék
• kellemes
• kellemetlen
• kellet
• kelletlen

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Maltese

Etymology

From kien (“was”) + l- (“to”).

Verb

kell- (imperfect ikoll)

1. to belong to; expresses English have

   Kelli ktieb.

   I had a book.

   (literally, “It was to me a book.”)

   Ir-raġel kellu ktieb.

   The man had a book.

   (literally, “The man it was to him a book.”)

2. (with following verb) to be obligatory for; to be necessary for; expresses English have to, must

   Kelli nikteb ktieb.

   I had to write a book.

   (literally, “It was to me (that) I write a book.”)

Usage notes

• The perfect of this verb expresses the past, while the imperfect expresses future and subjunctive senses. The present is expressed by forms of għand. This is equivalent to the situation in the underlying kien (“to be”), where the present is expressed (if expressed at all) by the personal pronouns.
• The verbal inflection is that of a defective verb that inflects only for tense (imperfect ikoll), but not for person or number. They who “have” something, or “have to do” something, are given with the appropriate personal suffixes (as above: kelli = it was to me = I had; kellu = it was to him = he had; etc.).
• Syntactically, it is not sound to define either of the two elements (possessor or thing possessed) as the object of the phrase. Rather the construction is that which in Arabic and Greek grammar is called a nominativus pendens: The possessor is prepositioned and referred back to with a personal suffix, while the thing possessed is the grammatical subject. This construction is generally popular in Maltese; for example: Ir-raġel qatluh. (“They killed the man.”, literally “The man, they killed him.”).

Inflection

Inflected forms of kell
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		kell		kellna
2nd person		kell		kellkom
3rd person		kell	kellha	kellhom

See also

• għand (possessive)