fell

fell · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂peh₃lH-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fallaną“to fall”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fallijaną“to fell, to cause to fall”
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fallijan
5. Old English · inherited fromfellan
6. Middle English · inherited fromfellen
7. English todayfell

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”).

fell · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pél-no-“skin, animal hide”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fellą
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fell
4. Old English · inherited fromfel
5. Middle English · inherited fromfell
6. English todayfell

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.

fell · noun³

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pels-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*felzą
3. Old Norse · derived fromfell
4. Middle English · inherited fromfell
5. English todayfell

From Middle English fell, felle, from Old Norse fell (fjall, fiæl, “mountain range or mountain terrain above the tree line”), 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. Cognates includes: Danish fjeld (fjæld), Faroese fjall (fjøll), Icelandic fjall (fell), Norwegian fjell (fjøll, fjødd, fjedd, fjedl, fjill, fill, fil, fel), Swedish fjäll (Old Swedish fiæl).

fell · adjective, adverb⁴

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*faluz“wicked, cruel, terrifying”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fali
3. Old English · inherited from*fel
4. Old French · derived fromfel
5. Middle English · inherited fromfel
6. English todayfell

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.

fell · noun⁵

1. Latin · borrowed fromfel“gall, poison, bitterness”
2. English todayfell

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

Fell · proper noun⁶

* As an English surname, from the noun fell (“crag, rocky highland”). * As an English, Jewish, and German surname, from Fell (“pelt, fur”) or its Yiddish equivalent. Compare Pilcher.

Words from the same roots