feal

See also: féal and fəal

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiːl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːl

Etymology 1

From Middle English fele, fæle (“proper, of the right sort”), from Old English fǣle (“faithful, trusty, good; dear, beloved”), from Proto-West Germanic *failī, from Proto-Germanic *failijaz (“true, friendly, familiar, good”), from Proto-Indo-European *pey- (“to adore”). Cognate with Scots feel, feelie (“cosy, neat, clean, comfortable”), West Frisian feilich (“safe”), Dutch veil (“for-sale”), Dutch veilig (“safe”), German feil (“for-sale”), Latin pīus (“good, dutiful, faithful, devout, pious”).

Alternative forms

• feil, feel, feele, fiel

Adjective

feal (comparative fealer or more feal, superlative fealest or most feal)

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) (of things) Cosy; clean; neat.
   • 1847, Henry Scott Riddell, Poems, songs and miscellaneous pieces:

     But if it stands in humble hame The bed, — I'll say this far in't, — Is clean and feel as ony lair King ever lay on — and that is mair Than mony ane could warrant.

2. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) (of persons) Comfortable; cosy; safe.
   • 1822, Allan Cunningham, “Death of the Laird Of Warlsworm”, in Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry, volume 2, page 330:

     […] when I care na to accompany ye to the kirkyard hole mysel, and take my word for't, ye'Il lie saftest and fealest on the Buittle side of the kirk; […]

3. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Smooth; soft; downy; velvety.

Derived terms

• fealy, feely

Adverb

feal (comparative fealer or more feal, superlative fealest or most feal)

1. In a feal manner.

Etymology 2

From Middle English felen, from Old Norse fela (“to hide”), from Proto-Germanic *felhaną (“to conceal, hide, bury, trust, intrude”), from Proto-Indo-European *pele(w)-, *plē(w)- (“to hide”). Cognate with Old High German felahan (“to pass, trust, sow”), Old English fēolan (“to cleave, enter, penetrate”).

Verb

feal (third-person singular simple present feals, present participle fealing, simple past and past participle fealed)

1. (transitive, dialectal) To hide.
   • 1768, John Ray, A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs: Also the Most Celebrated Proverbs of the Scotch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Other Languages. The Whole Methodically Digested and Illustrated with Annotations, and Proper Explanations, page 29:

     He that feals can find. Pro. i. e He that hides, &c.

Etymology 3

From Middle English felen (“to come at (one's enemies), advance”), from Old English fēolan (“to cleave, enter, penetrate”), from Proto-Germanic *felhaną.

Verb

feal (third-person singular simple present feals, present participle fealing, simple past fale or fealed, past participle folen or fealed)

1. (obsolete) To press on, advance.
   • 1338, Robert Mannyng, Mannyng's Chronicle:

     Durst none of them further feal.

References

• The Middle English Dictionary

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Middle Scots feal, from Early Scots feal, from Old French feal, collateral form of feeil, from Latin fidelis.

Adjective

feal (comparative fealer or more feal, superlative fealest or most feal)

1. (archaic) Faithful, loyal.
   • 1877, Edward Arber, An English Garner: The voyages of Sir William Hawkins ...:

     France, and froward Ireland, with our English land, / Are feal subjects to your royal hand.

Derived terms

• fealty

Etymology 5

Unknown; see fail.

Noun

feal (plural feals)

1. Alternative form of fail (“piece of turf cut from grassland”)

Anagrams

• Lafe, Leaf, alef, flea, leaf

Galician

Alternative forms

• fial

Etymology

From feo (“hay”) +‎ -al, suffix which forms place names. From Latin fēnum (“hay”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feˈal/

Noun

feal m (plural feais)

1. hayfield

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “feal”, 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), “feal”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “feal”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Middle English

Alternative forms

• feale, feall

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Anglo-Norman feal (“faithful”), earlier fedeil, from Latin fidēlis; compare feaute.

In Middle English, reinterpreted as fe (“fee”) +‎ -al, influencing both the sense and form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feːˈaːl/, /ˈfeːal/

Noun

feal (Early Scots, Scots law)

1. A stipend or allowance given to someone.
2. (rare) Ownership of land under feudalism.
3. (rare) Fealty; feudal allegiance, fidelity, or loyalty.

Descendants

• Middle Scots: feall, fiall
  • Scots: feal, feele (obsolete)
  • → English: feal

References

• “feal(e, feall, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.