fel

From Dutch fel, from Middle Dutch fel, from Old French fel.

• IPA^(key): /fɛl/

fel (attributive fel, comparative feller, superlative felste)

1. ferocious, fierce
2. bright (e.g. sunlight)

fel

1. fiercely, ferociously

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *felem m or f, from Latin fel n.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfɛl]

fel m or f (plural fels)

1. gall, bile

   Synonym: bilis

2. (figurative) misery
3. (figurative) rancor

   Synonym: rancúnia

• “fel”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “fel” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

fel

1. mixed mutation of mel

From Middle Dutch fel, from Old French fel.

• IPA^(key): /fɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fel
• Rhymes: -ɛl

fel (comparative feller, superlative felst)

1. bright, shiny (e.g. sunlight)
2. fierce, feisty, even bitter
3. flashy, showy

Declension of fel
uninflected	fel
inflected	felle
comparative	feller
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		fel	feller	het felst het felste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	felle	fellere	felste
	n. sing.	fel	feller	felste
	plural	felle	fellere	felste
definite		felle	fellere	felste
partitive		fels	fellers	—

• Afrikaans: fel
• → Papiamentu: fel (dated)

fel

1. fiercely

   De Frisii waren een Germaans volk en net als verscheidene andere Germaanse volkeren wisten ze zich fel te verdedigen tegen de Romeinen^[*] — The Frisii were a Germanic people and, just like various other Germanic peoples, they knew how to defend themselves fiercely against the Romans.

• Afrikaans: fel

• elf, lef

Cognate with Swedish fuller.

fel

1. probably, likely

• IPA^(key): /ˈfel/
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: fel

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese fazer, from Latin facere. Compare Portuguese fazer and Galician facer.

• ficel (Valverdeñu)

fel

1. (Lagarteiru, Mañegu) to do, make

From Old Galician-Portuguese fel , from Vulgar Latin *felem.

• fe (Lagarteiru)

fel f (uncountable)

1. (Mañegu, Valverdeñu) bile

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

From Old Galician-Portuguese fel (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Vulgar Latin *felem m or f, from Latin fel n.

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛl]

fel m (plural feles)

1. gall; bile

   Synonym: bile

2. (figuratively) meanness

   Synonym: amargura

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “fel”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “fel”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “fel”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “fel”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• föl

From Proto-Uralic *pide.^[1][2]

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

fel (comparative feljebb, superlative legfeljebb)

2. up, upward, upwards (to a physically higher or more elevated position)

   Synonym: felfelé

   Antonyms: le, lefelé

   Coordinate terms: fent, fenn, (at a physically higher position) felül

This term may also be part of the split form of a verb prefixed with fel-, occurring when the main verb does not follow the prefix directly. It can be interpreted only with the related verb form, irrespective of its position in the sentence, e.g. meg tudták volna nézni (“they could have seen it”, from megnéz). For verbs with this prefix, see fel-; for an overview, Appendix:Hungarian verbal prefixes.

See the compound word derivations below, at the noun sense.

fel (uncountable)

2. (archaic) alternative form of föl (“upper part, surface”)

   Synonyms: (upper part) felső rész, (surface) felület

3. (rare, dialectal) alternative form of föl (“skim (of the milk)”) or föl (“cream; the best part”)

fel

2. (obsolete, only in compounds) upper, higher

   Synonyms: felső, feljebbi, fentebbi, fentebb/feljebb/magasabban lévő

• (up): fel in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (skim, best part; rare, dialectal): fel , redirecting to standard (1): föl in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (upper part): fel in Czuczor, Gergely and János Fogarasi: A magyar nyelv szótára (“A Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”). Pest: Emich Gusztáv Magyar Akadémiai Nyomdász, 1862–1874.

Uncertain. Either from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green”), or from *bʰel-, *bʰl̥H- (“yellow”). *ǵʰ- > f- instead of the expected *h- is explained as being regular in some dialects.^[1] Cognates through the first etymon include holus and helvus; Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”) and χλωρός (khlōrós, “green”); and English yellow and gold.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfɛɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfɛl]

fel n (genitive fellis); third declension

1. gall bladder
2. gall, bile
3. poison
4. bitterness, venom

Third-declension noun (neuter, i-stem).

• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *felem m or f (see there for further descendants)

• “fel”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• fel in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Borrowed from Old French fel.^[1]

fel

1. cruel, harsh
2. evil
3. terrible
4. dangerous

• fellaert (“villain”)
• felheit, felleheit, felhede, fellede (“cruelty, malice”)
• fellike, fellijc, fellic, fellich, felleke (“cruely, maliciously, fiercely”)
  • Dutch: fellijk (obsolete)
  • ⇒ fellichheit, fellecheit (“wickedness, malice, injustice”)

• Dutch: fel

fel

1. maliciously

• “fel (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “fel (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

fel

1. alternative form of fele (“many”)

fel

1. alternative form of fele (“many”)

fel n

1. alternative form of fell

• fels, feus, fal

From Early Medieval Latin fellō. The oblique case felon comes from the accusative fellōnem.

fel m

1. nominative singular of felon

fel m

1. nominative singular of felon

In later Old French, fel was also used as the oblique case instead of felon. A feminine fele / felle also develops later on.^[1]

• → Middle Dutch: fel^[2]
  • Dutch: fel
• → Middle English: fel, fell (or from Old English)
  • English: fell

• IPA^(key): [ɸʲelʲ]

fel

1. alternative form of fil

From Old Galician-Portuguese fel, from Vulgar Latin *felem m or f, from Latin fel n.

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɛl, (Brazil) -ɛw
• Hyphenation: fel

fel m (plural féis or feles)

1. sourness, acerbity, bitterness

   Synonym: azedume

2. (figuratively) sorrow

   Synonym: amargura

3. (medicine) gall; bile

   Synonyms: bile, bílis

Borrowed from Hungarian -féle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfel/
• Rhymes: -el

• Audio:

  (file)

fel n (plural feluri)

1. sort, type, kind

   Synonyms: gen, tip

2. manner, style, way

   În ce fel? ― In what way?

   În felul acesta. ― In this way.

   Nu e în felul lui să fie neprietenos. ― It’s unlike him to be unkind.

3. course of a meal

   felul unu ― first course

   felul doi ― second course

   felul trei ― dessert

• astfel
• defel
• fel de fel
• într-un fel
• la fel

• “fel”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

See Norwegian feil and Danish fejl. Used in Swedish at least since 1527. For the adverb, the now obsolete form felt was the dominant written form until the mid 19th century.

• IPA^(key): /feːl/, [feə̯l]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːl

fel (comparative mer fel, superlative mest fel)

1. wrong, incorrect, erroneous

   Fel svar ger inga poäng

   A wrong answer gives no points

   Det är fel att döda

   Killing is wrong

   Vi gick fel väg

   We went the wrong way

   Vi gick på fel buss

   We got on the wrong bus

No inflected forms.

• rätt, korrekt

fel (comparative mer fel, superlative mest fel)

1. wrong, wrongly, incorrectly, erroneously

   Hon svarade fel på hälften av frågorna

   She answered wrong on half of the questions

   Planen slog fel

   The plan failed

   Det gick fel

   It went wrong

• galet
• på tok
• snett

fel n

1. (uncountable) wrong (incorrectness or moral wrongness), (sometimes, by rephrasing) a mistake

   Antonym: rätt

   Jag erkänner, jag gjorde fel

   I admit, I made a mistake / I did wrong (can mean morally or otherwise)

   Han har fel

   He is wrong ("has wrong" – idiomatic)

2. an error, a fault, a defect, a wrong

   Vi hittade flera fel i artikeln

   We found several errors in the article

   Det är något fel på datorn

   There is something wrong with the computer

   Två fel gör inte ett rätt

   Two wrongs don't make a right (idiomatic)

This list includes words based on the adverb (felcitera (“to cite erroneously”)) as well as the noun (felsöka (“to search for errors”)).

• fel in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• fel in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• fel in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• IPA^(key): /fel/

fel (nominative plural fels)

1. field (general)

From Proto-Brythonic *haβ̃al, itself from Proto-Celtic *samalis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together, one”). Cognate with Breton evel, Cornish avel, Irish samhail, Latin similis.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /vɛl/^[2]
• Rhymes: -ɛl

fel

1. as, like
   • Nursery rhyme:

     Gwyn fel yr eira / Du fel y frân / Pinc fel y rhosyn / Coch fel y tân / Llwyd fel y wiwer / Melyn fel yr haul / Glas fel yr awyr / Gwyrdd fel y dail. / Dyna rai o'r lliwiau, / y lliwiau yn Gymraeg.

     White like the snow / Black like the crow / Pink like the rose / Red like the fire / Grey like the squirrel / Yellow like the sun / Blue like the sky / Green like the leaves. / Those are some of the colours, / the colours in Welsh.

• hafal

fel

1. (South Wales, colloquial) how

   Synonyms: fel, ffordd

   Fel ’yt ti’n gwbod ’ny? ― How do you know that?

• rhywfodd, rhywsut (“somehow”)