Skip to the word

Added 7 October 2026

fell

/fɛl/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about fell at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To make something fall, especially a tree.
To strike down; to kill; to destroy.
To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance or pleat.

noun

A cutting-down of timber.
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.
The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.

noun

Skin, hide, pelt.
A covering of hair, wool, etc., especially when matted or thick; a fleece; also (chiefly in fell of hair), a thick head or mass of hair.

noun

High and barren landscape feature such as a mountain range or mountain terrain above the tree line.
A rocky ridge or chain of mountains, particularly in the British Isles or Fennoscandia.
A wild field or upland moor.

Origin

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-West Germanic *fallijan, from Proto-Germanic *fallijaną (“to fell, to cause to fall”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂peh₃lH-. Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“to fell”), Danish fælde (“to fell”), Norwegian felle (“to fell”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word