pell

P3E1L1L1
/pɛl/

noun

A fur or hide.

Less commonScrabble 6

Meanings

pell1

nounpell (plural pells)

plural pells

  1. A fur or hide.
  2. A lined cloak or its lining.
  3. A roll of parchment; a record kept on parchment.
    1 more example

    1835, Frederick Devon (editor and translator), Issue Roll of Thomas de Brantingham, Bishop of Exeter, Lord High Treasurer of England, Containing Payments Made out of His Majesty′s Revenue in the 44th Year of King Edward III.: A.D. 1370, page xi, The clerk of the pell (whose office is in the Lord Treasurer′s gift) keepeth the Pells in parchment, called Pelles Receptæ, wherein every teller′s bill, with his name on it, is to be entred; and under every such bill when it is entred, recordatur to be written in open court, for a controlment to charge the teller with so much money as in the said bill is set downe. He also anciently kept another pell, called Pellis Exitus, wherein every dayes issuing of any the moneys paid into the receipt, was to be entered, and by whom and by what warrant, privy seale, or bill, it was paid.

  4. SussexA body of water somewhere between a pond and a lake in size.
  5. An upright post, often padded and covered in hide, used to practice strikes with bladed weapons such as swords or glaives.

pell2

verbpell (third-person singular simple present pells, present participle pelling, simple past and past participle pelled)

present singular third person pells · participle present pelling · participle past pelled · past pelled

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo pelt; to knock about.

    Beat and pell them downe with perches and poles.

    1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book I.]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC

Pell3

proper nounPell (plural Pells)

plural Pells

  1. A surname.

    The SEOG is another type of grant awarded by the federal government to students from low-income families. Like a Pell Grant, you do not have to pay back the SEOG, and you must submit the FAFSA form to be eligible.

    2018 June 7, Katie Lobosco, “36% of colleges are hiding the cost to students”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 28 May 2025

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pel-ni-
  2. Proto-Italic*pelnis
  3. Latinpellis“animal skin, pelt”
  4. Englishpell

From Latin pellis (“animal skin, pelt”), from Proto-Italic *pelnis, from Proto-Indo-European *pel-ni-. Distantly related to fell and film.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pell

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

pell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pell

MLA

“pell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pell. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pell,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pell.

Source: pell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.