fell

Pronunciation: /fɛl/

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal)
  2. noun seam made by turning under or folding together and stitching the seamed materials to avoid rough edges
  3. noun the act of felling something (as a tree)

Etymology

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”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

hide

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
animal skin
Narrower (hyponyms)
rawhide, cowhide, goatskin

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