different between goodfellow vs fellow

English

Etymology

From Middle English felowe, felawe, felage, from Old Norse félagi (“fellow, companion, associate, shareholder, colleague”), from félag (“partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from the Germanic bases of two words represented in English by fee and law. Cognate with Scots falow, fallow, follow (“associate, comrade, companion”), Danish fælle (“companion”), Norwegian felle (“companion”), Faroese felagi (“member, partner”), Icelandic félagi (“comrade, mate”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f?l??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?f?lo?/
• (informal, nonstandard) IPA^(key): /?f?l?/
• Rhymes: -?l??
• Hyphenation: fel?low

Noun

fellow (plural fellows)

1. (obsolete) A colleague or partner.
2. (archaic) A companion; a comrade.
   • 1788, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume IV

     That enormous engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal magnitude.

   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.

3. A man without good breeding or worth; an ignoble or mean man.
4. An equal in power, rank, character, etc.
5. One of a pair, or of two things used together or suited to each other; a mate.

   • When they be but heifers of one year, […] they are let goe to the fellow and breed.
6. (attributive) A person with common characteristics, being of the same kind, or in the same group.
   • 1888, James Francis Hogan, The Irish in Australia

     writing a history of my fellow-countrymen in Australasia
7. (colloquial) A male person; a man.
9. (rare) A person; an individual, male or female.

   • She seemed to be a good sort of fellow.

10. (Britain slang, obsolete) Synonym of schoolmate: a student at the same school.
    • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 37:

      Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

11. A rank or title in the professional world, usually given as "Fellow".
    1. In the English universities, a scholar who is appointed to a foundation called a fellowship, which gives a title to certain perquisites and privileges.
    2. In an American college or university, a member of the corporation which manages its business interests; also, a graduate appointed to a fellowship, who receives the income of the foundation.
    3. A member of a literary or scientific society

       a Fellow of the Royal Society

    4. The most senior rank or title one can achieve on a technical career in certain companies (though some Fellows also hold business titles such as Vice President or Chief Technology Officer). This is typically found in large corporations in research and development-intensive industries (IBM or Sun Microsystems in information technology, and Boston Scientific in Medical Devices for example). They appoint a small number of senior scientists and engineers as Fellows.
    5. In the US and Canada, a physician who is undergoing a supervised, sub-specialty medical training (fellowship) after completing a specialty training program (residency).
12. (Aboriginal English) Used as a general intensifier
    • 1991, Jimmy Chi, Bran Nue Dae, in Heiss & Minter, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 137:

      This fella song all about the Aboriginal people, coloured people, black people longa Australia.

Usage notes

In North America, fellow is less likely to be used for a man in general in comparison to other words that have the same purpose. Nevertheless, it is still used by some. In addition, it has a good bit of use as an academic or medical title or membership.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:associate
• See also Thesaurus:man

Translations

Derived terms

Verb

fellow (third-person singular simple present fellows, present participle fellowing, simple past and past participle fellowed)

1. To suit with; to pair with; to match.

References

• “fellow”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

Anagrams

• elf owl