different between fell vs feral

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Etymology 1

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-Germanic *fallijan? (“to fell, to cause to fall”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallan? (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)p?l- (“to fall”). Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“to fell”), Norwegian felle (“to fell”).

Verb

fell (third-person singular simple present fells, present participle felling, simple past and past participle felled)

1. (transitive) To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
2. (transitive) To strike down, kill, destroy.
   • 2016 January 17, "What Weiner Reveals About Huma Abedin," Vanity Fair (retrieved 21 January 2016):

     This Sunday marks the debut of Weiner, a documentary that follows former congressman Anthony Weiner in his attempt to overcome a sexting scandal and run for mayor of New York City—only to be felled, somewhat inexplicably, by another sexting scandal.
3. (sewing) To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.
   • 2006, Colette Wolff, The Art of Manipulating Fabric, page 296:

     To fell seam allowances, catch the lining underneath before emerging 1/4" (6mm) ahead, and 1/8" (3mm) to 1/4" (6mm) into the seam allowance.

Translations

Noun

fell (plural fells)

1. A cutting-down of timber.
2. The stitching down of a fold of cloth; specifically, the portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down.
3. (textiles) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English fell, fel, vel, from Old English fel, fell (“hide, skin, pelt”), from Proto-Germanic *fell? (compare West Frisian fel, Dutch vel, German Fell), from Proto-Indo-European *pél-no- (“skin, animal hide”) (compare Latin pellis (“skin”), Lithuanian pl?n? (“skin”), Russian ?????? (plená, “pelt”), Albanian plah (“to cover”), Ancient Greek ?????? (péll?s, “skin”)). Related to film and pell.

Noun

fell (plural fells)

2. An animal skin, hide, pelt.
   • c. 1599 Shakespeare: As You Like It: Act 3 Sc.3 L. 35

     Why, we are still handling our ewes, and their fells, you know, are greasy.

3. Human skin (now only as a metaphorical use of previous sense).
   • c. 1390, William Langland, Piers Plowman, I:

     For he is fader of feith · fourmed ?ow alle / Bothe with fel and with face.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Old Norse fell, fjall (“rock, mountain”), compare Norwegian Bokmål fjell 'mountain', from Proto-Germanic *felz?, *fel(e)zaz, *falisaz (compare German Felsen 'boulder, cliff', Middle Low German vels 'hill, mountain'), from Proto-Indo-European *pelso; compare Irish aill (“boulder, cliff”), Ancient Greek ????? (pélla, “stone”), Pashto ????? (par??a, “rock, rocky ledge”), Sanskrit ????? (p????á, “stone”). Doublet of fjeld.

Noun

fell (plural fells)

1. (archaic outside Britain) A rocky ridge or chain of mountains.
   • 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

     The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, / While hammers fell like ringing bells, / In places deep, where dark things sleep, / In hollow halls beneath the fells.

   • 1971 Catherine Cookson, The Dwelling Place

     She didn't know at first why she stepped off the road and climbed the bank on to the fells; it wasn't until she found herself skirting a disused quarry that she realised where she was making for, and when she reached the place she stood and gazed at it. It was a hollow within an outcrop of rock, not large enough to call a cave but deep enough to shelter eight people from the rain, and with room to spare.

2. (archaic outside Britain) A wild field or upland moor.
   • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion song 11 p. 174[5]:

     As over Holt and Heath, as thorough Frith and Fell;

Derived terms

• Low Fell

Translations

Etymology 4

From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”), from Proto-Indo-European *pol- (“to pour, flow, swim, fly”). 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”), Middle High German v?lant (“imp”). See felon.

Adjective

fell (comparative feller, superlative fellest)

1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act II scene vi^[6]:

     […] While we devise fell tortures for thy faults.

   • 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 2

     And many a serpent of fell kind, / With wings before, and stings behind
2. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent
3. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) Very large; huge.
4. (obsolete) Eager; earnest; intent.

   • I am so fell to my business.

Translations

Adverb

fell (comparative more fell, superlative most fell)

1. Sharply; fiercely.

Derived terms

• fellness

Etymology 5

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

Noun

fell (uncountable)

1. (obsolete, rare) Anger; gall; melancholy.

Etymology 6

Noun

fell

1. (mining) The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting.

Etymology 7

Verb

fell

1. simple past tense of fall
2. (now colloquial) past participle of fall

Further reading

• Fell (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Fell in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *spesla, metathesized form of *spelsa, from Proto-Indo-European *pels (“rock, boulder”), variant of *spel- (“to cleave, break”). Compare Latin hydronym Pelso, Latin Palatium, Pashto ????? (parša, “rock, rocky ledge”), Ancient Greek ????? (pélla, “stone”), German Felsen (“boulder, cliff”). Mostly dialectal, used in Gheg Albanian.

Adverb

fell

1. deep, shallow

Derived terms

• fellë

Related terms

• fyell

Icelandic

Etymology

Old Norse fjall (“mountain”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?tl/
• Rhymes: -?tl

Noun

fell n (genitive singular fells, nominative plural fell)

1. isolated hill, isolated mountain

Declension

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

fell

1. imperative of felle

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Verb

fell

1. present of falle

Etymology 2

Verb

fell

1. imperative of fella

Old English

Alternative forms

• fel

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fell, whence also Old High German vel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fell/, [fe?]

Noun

fell n

1. fell
2. skin

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French féral, from fer + -al, or borrowed from a Late Latin fer?lis, from Latin ferus (“wild”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f???l/, /?f????l/
• Rhymes: -?r?l, -????l
• Homophone: Farrell (Mary–marry–merry merger)

Adjective

feral (comparative more feral, superlative most feral)

1. Wild, untamed, especially of domesticated animals having returned to the wild.
2. (of a person) Contemptible, unruly, misbehaved.

Derived terms

• feral child
• feral cat

Translations

Noun

feral (plural ferals)

1. A domesticated animal that has returned to the wild; an animal, particularly a domesticated animal, living independently of humans.
   • 2005, Alexandra Powe Allred, Cats' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Mysterious Mousers, Talented Tabbies, and Feline Oddities, unnumbered page,

     Traffic, abuse, inhumane traps, and accidental poisoning are other hazards ferals must face. […] In England one gamekeeper claimed to have killed over three hundred ferals, while another brought home pelts to his wife so that she could design rugs from cat skins as a source of secondary income.

   • 2007, Clea Simon, Cries and Whiskers, page 26,

     You trap ferals, neuter them, and give them their rabies shot. Maybe distemper.

   • 2011, Gina Spadafori, Paul D. Pion, Cats for Dummies, unnumbered page,

     If you?ve ever put a saucer of milk out for a hard-luck kitty, or if you?re spending your lunch hour sharing sandwiches with the ferals near your office, this is the chapter for you.

2. (Australia, colloquial) A contemptible young person, a lout, a person who behaves wildly.
3. (Australia, colloquial) A person who has isolated themselves from the outside world; one living an alternative lifestyle.
   • 1995, Bill Metcalf, From Utopian Dreaming to Communal Reality: Cooperative Lifestyles in Australia, page 82,

     The intolerance which was directed towards us during the early years has now shifted to ‘the ferals’ who embrace a new version of nonconformist behaviour that even some of us in their parent?s generation — the Aquarian settlers — don?t like. The ferals are the scapegoats for the drug problems here, and are highly visible since many of them have nowhere to live.

   • 2002, Shane Maloney, Something Fishy, 2003, page 208,

     A pod of ferals was moving towards the exit, a half-dozen soap-shy, low-tech, bush-dwelling hippies.

   • 2010, Anna Krien, Into The Woods: The Battle For Tasmania's Forests, page 102,

     It?s the rootlessness of the ferals that people don?t seem to trust; their claims of connectedness to all wild places touches a nerve. Even residents of Maydena who want to see the Florentine protected dislike the ratbags? itinerancy.

4. (furry subculture) A character in furry art or literature which has the physical characteristics (body) of a regular animal (typically quadripedal), that may or may not be able to communicate with humans or anthros (contrasts anthro)

   The story is about a group of ferals which have to explore the ruins of society after the humans die out.

Derived terms

• feral child
• feral cat

Usage notes

• Feral in the furry-related sense can refer to both regular animals as well as characters which have the bodies of regular animals but the intelligence of a human. Intelligent feral characters are often depicted as speaking with other characters, but may only be able to speak with other ferals and not humans or anthros due to a language barrier.

Anagrams

• flare

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from a Late Latin fer?lis, from Latin ferus (“wild”), or formed from fiero +? -al.

Adjective

feral (plural ferales)

1. feral

Related terms

• fiero