fel

See also: fél, fêl, and fel-

Languages (22)

Afrikaans • Catalan • Cornish • Dutch • Elfdalian • Fala • Galician • Hungarian • Kabyle • Latin • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Old Dutch • Old English • Old French • Old High German • Old Irish • Portuguese • Romanian • Swedish • Volapük • Welsh

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Page categories

Afrikaans

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛl/

Adjective

fel (attributive fel, comparative feller, superlative felste)

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

Adverb

fel

1. fiercely, ferociously

Catalan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

fel m or f (plural fels)

1. gall, bile

   Synonym: bilis

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

   Synonym: rancúnia

Derived terms

• fel sobreeixit

Further reading

• “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
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “fel”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Cornish

Etymology 1

From English fell. Cognate with Welsh ffel.

Adjective

fel

1. astute, crafty, shrewd, sly

Derived terms

• felder (“slyness”)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

fel

1. mixed mutation of mel

References

• “fel” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch fel, from Old French fel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛl/, [fɛɫ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fel
• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Homophone: vel (many northern speakers)

Adjective

fel (comparative feller, superlative felst)

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

Declension

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	—

Derived terms

• felbegeerd
• felbevochten
• felblauw
• felgeel
• felgekleurd
• felgroen
• felheid
• felrood

Descendants

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

Adverb

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.

Descendants

• Afrikaans: fel

Anagrams

• elf, lef

Elfdalian

Etymology

Cognate with Swedish fuller.

Adverb

fel

1. probably, likely

Fala

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• ficel (Valverdeñu)

Verb

fel

1. (Lagarteiru, Mañegu) to do, make

Conjugation

Conjugation of fel (Lagarteiru)

infinitive			fel
gerund			fendu
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		feitu		feita
		plural		feitus		feitas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		ei	tú	el/ela	nos	vos	elis/elas
	present	fagu	fais	fai	femus	feis	fadin
	imperfect	feya	feyas	feya	féyamus	feyis	feyan
	preterite	fidi	fidestis fidetis	fidu	fidemus	fidestis fidetis	fideran
	future	fairé	fairás	fairá	fairemus	faireis	fairán
	conditional	fairía	fairías	fairía	fairíamus	fairíis fairíais	fairían
subjunctive		ei	tú	el/ela	nos	vos	elis/elas
	present	faga	fagas	faga	fagamus	fagais	fagan
	imperfect (ra)	fidera	fideras	fidera	fidéramus	fideris	fideran
	imperfect (si)	fidesi	fidesis	fidesi	fidésimus	fidesis	fidesin
imperative		—	fai	—	—	fei	—

Conjugation of fel (Mañegu)

infinitive			fel
gerund			fendu
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		feitu		feita
		plural		feitus		feitas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		ei	tú	el/ela	nos	vos	elis/elas
	present	fayu	fais	fai	femus feimus	feis	fayin
	imperfect	feya	feyas	feya	féyamus	feyis feyais	feyan
	preterite	fidi	fidestis	fidu	fidemus	fidestis	fideran
	future	fairé	fairás	fairá	fairemus	faireis	fairán
	conditional	fairía	fairías	fairía	fairíamus	fairíis fairíais	fairían
subjunctive		ei	tú	el/ela	nos	vos	elis/elas
	present	faya	fayas	faya	fayamus	fayais	fayan
	imperfect (ra)	fidera	fideras	fidera	fidéramus	fideris fiderais	fideran
	imperfect (si)	fidesi	fidesis	fidesi	fidésimus	fidesis	fidesin
imperative		—	fai	—	—	fei	—

Related terms

• feitu (“done, fact”)

Etymology 2

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

Alternative forms

• fe (Lagarteiru)

Noun

fel f (uncountable)

1. (Mañegu, Valverdeñu) bile

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web), 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 142

Galician

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛl/ [ˈfɛɫ]
• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Hyphenation: fel

Noun

fel m (plural feles)

1. gall; bile

   Synonym: bile

2. (figuratively) meanness

   Synonym: amargura

Derived terms

• fel da terra
• herba do fel

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “fel”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, 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 Santamarina, Ernesto X. 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

Further reading

• “fel”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “fel”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Hungarian

Alternative forms

• föl

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *pide.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Adverb

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

Usage notes

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.

Derived terms

Expressions

• fel a fejjel
• fel s alá

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

Related terms

• fellebbez

Noun

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”)

Declension

Inflection of fel

	singular	plural
nominative	fel	—
accusative	felt felet	—
dative	felnek	—
instrumental	fellel	—
causal-final	felért	—
translative	fellé	—
terminative	felig	—
essive-formal	felként	—
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	felben	—
superessive	felen	—
adessive	felnél	—
illative	felbe	—
sublative	felre	—
allative	felhez	—
elative	felből	—
delative	felről	—
ablative	feltől	—
non-attributive possessive – singular	felé	—
non-attributive possessive – plural	feléi	—

Possessive forms of fel

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	felem	—
2nd person sing.	feled	—
3rd person sing.	fele	—
1st person plural	felünk	—
2nd person plural	feletek	—
3rd person plural	felük	—

Derived terms

• felettes
• felhang
• feljebb
• felperes
• felség
• felső
• felszín
• felület
• felvonás
• fenn
• tejfel

Adjective

fel

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

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

Derived terms

Compound words

• felföld
• felház
• felvég
• felvidék

Further reading

• (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.

Kabyle

Root
f-l‎ (crossing)
1 term

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber. Cognate with Tashelhit fl (“to leave; to abandon”) and probably Tarifit feř (“to set up the loom”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fəl/

Verb

fel (imperfective ffal, verbal noun tafuli)

1. to go over; to cross
2. to exceed, to surpass
3. to disappear
4. to depart

References

• Association Culturelle Numidya (2025), “Amawal, dictionnaire kabyle-français en ligne”, in Amawal‎^[1], retrieved 2025
• Dallet, Jean-Marie (1982), Dictionnaire kabyle-français: parler des At Mangellat, Algérie (in French), Paris, France

Latin

Etymology

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. Cognates through the first etymon include holus and helvus; Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”) and χλωρός (khlōrós, “green”); and English yellow and gold. Sihler explains the -ll- as coming from earlier *-ln-, reconstructing *ǵʰeln-.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

fel n (genitive fellis); third declension

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

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter; i-stem or imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	fel	fella
genitive	fellis	fellium
dative	fellī	fellibus
accusative	fel	fella
ablative	felle	fellibus
vocative	fel	fella

• All plural forms are rare and none can be found in early Latin authors. The nominative/accusative plural fella is attested from at least the second and third centuries (in Tertullian De Corona Militis and Serenus Sammonicus). The genitive plural is unattested in Classical Latin, and appears as fellium in Caelius Aurelianus (who also uses the form fella). The dative/ablative plural fellibus is theoretically predictable in form, and occurs in New Latin, but is unattested anciently; the grammarian Pseudo-Remmius Palaemon transmits a grammatical doctrine where this word (along with some other neuter nouns) is said to be a 'triptote' in the plural, having only three cases (nominative, accusative, vocative).

Derived terms

• felleus
• fellidūcus
• fellifluus
• fellītus
• fellōsus

Descendants

• Proto-Romance: *felem m or f (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “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.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French fel.

Adjective

fel

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

Inflection

Adjective

		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	indefinite	fel	felle	fel	felle
	definite	felle		felle
accusative	indefinite	fellen	felle	fel	felle
	definite			felle
genitive	indefinite	fels	felre	fels	felre
	definite	fels, fellen		fels, fellen
dative		fellen	felre	fellen	fellen

Derived terms

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

Descendants

• Dutch: fel

Adverb

fel

1. maliciously

Further reading

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

Middle English

Determiner

fel

1. alternative form of fele (“many”)

Adverb

fel

1. alternative form of fele (“many”)

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fell, from Proto-Germanic *fellą.

Noun

fel n

1. skin, hide

Inflection

Declension of fel (neuter a-stem noun)

case	singular	plural
nominative	fel	fel
accusative	fel	fel
genitive	felles	fello
dative	felle	fellon

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: vel
  • Dutch: vel
    • Afrikaans: vel
    • Jersey Dutch: vääl
    • Negerhollands: vel, fel
    • → Indonesian: pel

References

• “fel”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fel/
• Rhymes: -el

Noun

fel n

1. alternative form of fell

Old French

Alternative forms

• fels, feus, fal

Etymology

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

Noun

fel m

1. nominative singular of felon

Adjective

fel m

1. nominative singular of felon

Usage notes

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

Descendants

• → Middle Dutch: fel
  • Dutch: fel
• → Middle English: fel, fell (or from Old English)
  • English: fell

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fell, whence also Old English fell.

Noun

fël n

1. A fur.

Descendants

• Middle High German: vël
  • German: Fell

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɸʲelʲ/

Verb

fel

1. alternative form of fil

Mutation

Mutation of fel

radical	lenition	nasalization
fel	ḟel	fel pronounced with /β̃ʲ-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛw/ [ˈfɛʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛl/ [ˈfɛɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛl/ [ˈfɛɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛ.li/

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

Noun

fel m (plural féis or feles)

1. sourness, acerbity, bitterness

   Synonym: azedume

2. (figuratively) sorrow

   Synonym: amargura

3. (medicine) gall; bile

   Synonyms: bile, bílis

Further reading

• “fel”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “fel”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Hungarian -féle (“-like; sort, kind”) and fél (“part, participant, member”). Doublet of fălie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfel/
• Rhymes: -el

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

fel n (plural feluri)

1. sort, type, kind

   Synonyms: gen, tip

   ce fel de ― what kind of

   un fel de ― a sort of

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

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	fel	felul	feluri	felurile
genitive-dative	fel	felului	feluri	felurilor
vocative	felule		felurilor

Derived terms

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

References

• “fel”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Swedish

Etymology

From Middle Low German feil, from French faille (“fault, flaw”). 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feːl/, [feə̯l]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːl

Adjective

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

   It is wrong to kill

   Vi gick fel väg

   We went the wrong way

   Vi gick på fel buss

   We got on the wrong bus

Declension

No inflected forms.

Antonyms

• rätt, korrekt

Adverb

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

See also

• galet
• på tok
• snett

Noun

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)

Declension

Declension of fel

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	fel	fels
	definite	felet	felets
plural	indefinite	fel	fels
	definite	felen	felens

Hyponyms

• dubbelfel
• elfel
• talfel
• trippelfel
• tryckfel
• översättningsfel

Derived terms

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

• fela
• felaktig
• felanalys
• felanmälan
• felanvänd
• felas
• felbar
• felbedöma
• felbehandla
• felberäkning
• felcitera
• feldatera
• feldosera
• feldrag
• felfinnare
• felfinneri
• felformulerad
• felfrekvens
• felfri
• felföra
• felgrepp
• felgräns
• felhandling
• felinformerad
• felinvestering
• felkalkyl
• felkonstruerad
• felkälla
• felläsning
• felmanöver
• felmarginal
• felmeddelande
• felmärkt
• felnavigering
• felparkerad
• felparkering
• felpass
• felpassning
• felplacerad
• felplanerad
• felprocent
• felprogrammerad
• felrikta
• felringning
• felräknad
• felräkning
• felsatsning
• felskrivning
• felslag
• felslagen
• felslut
• felspekulation
• felstava
• felsteg
• felställd
• felstämplad
• felsyn
• felsägning
• felsöka
• feltecknad
• feltolka
• feltryck
• felträff
• feltänkt
• felunderrättad
• felval
• felvisande
• felvänd
• felväxt
• felöversättning

References

• “fel”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “fel”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “fel”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fel/

Noun

fel (genitive fela, plural fels)

1. field (general)

Declension

Declension of fel

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fel	fels
Genitive	fela	felas
Dative	fele	feles
Accusative	feli	felis
Predicative1	felu	felus
Vocative	o fel	o fels

1. Introduced in Volapük Nulik.

Derived terms

• cögafeled
• felacepaglun
• felacepöp
• felaflor
• felalaud, Alauda arvensis
• felaludom
• felaluzul, Luzula campestris
• felamug
• felapijun
• felapop (Papaver rhoeas)
• felapopaflor
• felatüum, Thymus serpyllum
• felatüumaleül
• felazaär, Acer campestre
• feled
• feledam
• feledamanufed
• felem
• felik
• felio
• firnafel
• gladafel
• ini fel
• ribädafeled
• zefel

Related terms

• befeil
• befeilön
• besovön feilalänedi
• deteilacem vestibüla feilanadoma Dona-Saxänik
• farmadom feilanik
• feil
• feilafluk
• feilalän
• feilaläned
• feilalänedamied
• feilam
• feilan
• feilanasval
• feilanef
• feilanik
• feilans (cf. de: Landsleute)
• feilaplan
• feilaprod
• feilarolöm
• feilastum
• feilastumem
• feilav
• feilavan
• feilavik
• feilavob
• feilavoban
• feilavobanadom
• feilavobod
• feilid
• feilidacin
• feilidön
• feilik
• feilim
• feiliman
• feilimik
• feilän
• feilänem
• feiläns
• feilöf
• feilöfik
• feilön
• flukafeil
• gerafeilaläned
• grenafeilaglun
• hifeilan
• hifeilavan
• hipul feilanik
• humulafeilan
• jifeilan
• jifeilavan
• jipul feilanik
• lefeilan
• lelivafeilan
• lufeilan
• lufeilanadom
• säbefeil
• säbefeilaläned
• säbefeilik
• säbefeilön
• vitidafeil

See also

• betadaläned
• buidän
• grenaläned
• hodaläned
• humulaläned
• läned
• rapaläned
• risataläned
• trifülaläned
• vatamaläned

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh ual, 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Preposition

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.

Related terms

• hafal

Adverb

fel

1. (South Wales, colloquial) how

   Synonyms: fel, ffordd

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

Related terms

• rhywfodd, rhywsut (“somehow”)