fell

adj

Etymology: From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), either from Old French fel or from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *fali, *falu, from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”). 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”). Compare also Middle High German vālant (“imp”) and Dutch fel (“fierce, feisty, bitter”). See felon.

1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.

   “one fell swoop”

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

2. Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent
3. Very large; huge.
4. Eager; earnest; intent.

   “I am so fell to my business.”

adv

Etymology: From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), either from Old French fel or from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *fali, *falu, from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”). 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”). Compare also Middle High German vālant (“imp”) and Dutch fel (“fierce, feisty, bitter”). See felon.

1. Sharply; fiercely.

name

Etymology: * As an English surname, from the noun fell (“crag, rocky highland”). * As an English, Jewish, and German surname, from Fell (“pelt, fur”) or its Yiddish equivalent. Compare Pilcher.

1. A surname.
2. A township in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States.
3. A municipality in Trier-Saarland district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

noun

1. Ellipsis of Fell pony.

   “Fells are usually pure black with no white markings, but bay, gray, and brown are also possible.”

2. Ellipsis of Fell mountain railway system, named after John Barraclough Fell.

   “This line [the Snaefell Mountain Railway] is the world's only example of an electrically-operated railway with a Fell central rail.”

verb

1. simple past of fall
2. past participle of fall

   “For I have heard that my Enemies have fell into that ſnare which they laid for mee. They which would have taken away my life have loſt their own;[…]”

   “I ſhould have fell overboard, or been killed by the enemy ; for having ſo many things to carry along with me, which I knew not how to uſe[…]”