different between felon vs inmate

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: f?l'?n, IPA^(key): /?f?l?n/
• Rhymes: -?l?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English felun, feloun, from Anglo-Norman felun (“traitor, wretch”), from Medieval Latin fell?, from Frankish *fell? (“wicked person”), from Proto-Germanic *fillô, *filjô (“flayer, whipper, scoundrel”), from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“cruel, evil”) (compare English fell (“fierce”), Middle High German v?lant (“imp”)), related to *fellan? (compare Dutch villen, German fillen (“to whip, beat”), both from Proto-Indo-European *pelh?- (“to stir, move, swing”) (compare Old Irish ad·ella (“to seek”), di·ella (“to yield”), Umbrian pelsatu (“to overcome, conquer”), Latin pell? (“to drive, beat”), Latvian lijuôs, pl?tiês (“to force, impose”), Ancient Greek ????? (pélas, “near”), ???????? (pílnamai, “I approach”), Old Armenian ??????? (halacem, “I pursue”).

Noun

felon (plural felons)

1. A person who has committed a felony.
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, James Nisbet & Company (1902), Book 3, Chapter 6, page 340:

     Looking at the Jury and the turbulent audience, he might have thought that the usual order of things was reversed, and that the felons were trying the honest men.

2. (law) A person who has been tried and convicted of a felony.
3. A wicked person.

Synonyms

• (one who has committed a felony): criminal; convict; malefactor; culprit

Related terms

• felonious
• felonize
• felony

Translations

Adjective

felon

1. wicked; cruel

Etymology 2

Probably from Latin fel (“gall, poison”).

Noun

felon (plural felons)

1. (medicine) A bacterial infection at the end of a finger or toe.

See also

• whitlow

References

• felon in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• felon at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• flone

Esperanto

Noun

felon

1. accusative singular of felo

Old French

Alternative forms

• felun, feloun, felloun

Etymology

From Medieval Latin fell?, from Frankish *fell? (“evildoer”).

Noun

felon m (oblique plural felons, nominative singular felons, nominative plural felon)

1. evildoer; wrongdoer
2. immoral person

Declension

Adjective

felon m (oblique and nominative feminine singular felone)

1. bastard; idiot (a general pejorative)
2. evil; bad; immoral

Declension

Related terms

• felonie

Descendants

• Middle French: felon
  • French: félon
• Norman: fflon
• Picard: fèlôn
• ? Middle Dutch: fel, felle (reborrowing)
• ? Middle English: felun, feloun
  • Scots: felloun
  • English: felon
    • ? Scots: felon, fellin
• ? Galician: felón
• ? Spanish: felón

References

Romanian

Etymology

From Old Church Slavonic ?????? (felon?), from Ancient Greek ???????? (phelónion).

Noun

felon n (plural feloane)

1. cape worn by the priest over the liturgical garments

Declension

English

Etymology

From inn +? mate, or from in- +? mate.

Noun

inmate (plural inmates)

1. A person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient).
2. A person who shares a residence (such as a hotel guest, a lodger, or a student living on campus), or other place.

Usage notes

Perhaps around 1970, television journalists began to use the word as a euphemism for prisoner, and this has become the primary, if not only, definition among younger generations. When speaking of persons receiving medical services, patient may be preferred instead.

Derived terms

• inmatehood

Translations

Anagrams

• Tamien, Tieman, etamin, inmeat, taimen, tamine