Where does “fell” come from?
I need to work through this chain carefully, but I notice there are significant issues with it that make it impossible to write an accurate etymology sentence.
The chain as presented has problems:
- It lists "Proto-Indo-European pel-" twice
- It ends with "Proto-Indo-European -yeti" which appears to be a verbal suffix, not a root
- The progression from Latin fel (meaning "gall, bile") to these various PIE roots doesn't form a coherent chain
- The headword "fell" (English) with unknown meaning is unclear—does this refer to the verb "fell" (to cut down) or the adjective "fell" (fierce/cruel)?
Without a clear, logical etymological chain from the source material, I cannot write an accurate one-sentence summary. The rules require me to state only what the chain supports and not invent intermediate steps.
Could you clarify:
1. What
fell (English): To make something fall; especially to chop down a...
Definitions
- To make something fall; especially to chop down a...
Ancestry of “fell”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | German | Fell | fur, pelt; hide |
| 2 | Frankish | vël | skin, hide |
| 3 | Old High German | fël | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *fell | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fellą | skin, hide |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pel- | to cover, to wrap; skin, hide, cloth; to fold |
Words derived from “fell”