fasel

F4A1S1E1L1

verb

To unravel or become frayed.

OriginMiddle English faselen ← Old English fæs →
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Meanings

fasel1

verbfasel (third-person singular simple present fasels, present participle faselling, simple past and past participle faselled)

present singular third person fasels · participle present faselling · participle past faselled · past faselled · alternative fasyll · alternative fazle

  1. dialectalobsoleteTo unravel or become frayed.

    My sleve is fasylled: ma manche est rauelée.

    1530, John Palsgrove, Lesclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse, Paris: Imprimerie nationale, page 546
    1 more example

    The edges of those pieces which seem inclined to fazzle out must be turned in, and tacked also to the sheeting.

    1885, “A New Kind of Patchwork”, in Little Folks: A Magazine for the Young, London: Cassel, page 67
  2. figurativelyobsoleteTo become confused or ravelled.

    […] which hath fazled and entangled this Controverſie.

    1636, Thomas Goodwin, A Child of Light Walking in Darkness, London: J. G., page 89

fasel2

nounfasel (plural fasels)

plural fasels

  1. obsoleteObsolete form of phasel.

    Tares and fasels, having been previously macerated in water so as to shoot out roots, are laxative of the bowels when taken before a meal with sauce; and are more nutritious than the fenugreek.

    1844, Paul d'Égine, translated by Francis Adams, The Seven books of Paulus Aegineta, London: Syndeham Society, page 125

Origin

  1. Old Englishfæs“fringe”
  2. Middle Englishfas“fringe”
  3. Middle Englishfaselen“to fray”
  4. Englishfasel

From Middle English faselen (“to fray”), from fasel (“frayed”, adjective) and fasel (“a frayed edge or border, fringe”, noun), probably a diminutive of Middle English fas (“fringe”), from Old English fæs (“fringe”). Compare Dutch vezel (“fibre, filament”), German faseln (“to ravel out, ramble”). Doublet of pizzle.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

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Cite this entry
APA

fasel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fasel

MLA

“fasel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fasel. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fasel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fasel.

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