What does fell mean?
Fell is a versatile English word with several distinct lives. Most commonly it serves as the past tense of the verb 'fall', describing anything that has dropped or come down. It also stands on its own as a transitive verb meaning to knock down or cut down, most often applied to trees being felled by foresters, though boxers can be felled by a blow and politicians felled by scandal. In northern England, particularly the Lake District, a fell is a hill or mountain, a term inherited from Old Norse that survives in names like Scafell Pike. An older, now archaic adjectival sense meant fierce or deadly, preserved fossilized in Shakespeare's phrase 'one fell swoop'. Finally, a fell can be the hide or skin of an animal. This richness makes 'fell' a striking example of how unrelated words can converge into a single spelling over centuries of linguistic change.
Past tense of 'fall'; also, transitively, to cut down (a tree) or knock down (a person or thing).
"The old elm was felled to make way for the new road."
The transitive sense is standard in forestry contexts and formal writing.
A hill or high stretch of moorland, especially in northern England.
"We climbed the fell above the village just as the mist began to lift."
Chiefly British, restricted to northern England usage and place names.
The hide or skin of an animal.
"The tanner sorted each fell before beginning the curing process."
Now rare, mainly appearing in trade and historical contexts.
Fierce, savage, or deadly (archaic).
"The villain struck with fell intent."
Survives almost exclusively in the fixed phrase 'one fell swoop'.
Used chiefly for the northern English hills, as in the fells of Lakeland.
"Hikers crossed the fells at first light to avoid the midday heat."
Shakespeare gave us 'one fell swoop' in Macbeth — where 'fell' doesn't mean falling at all, but cruel and deadly.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fell
The verb 'fell' (to cut down) descends from Old English 'fellan', causative of 'feallan' (to fall), so it literally means 'to make fall'. Its homonym meaning a hill comes from Old Norse 'fjall', brought by Viking settlers to northern England. The archaic adjective meaning fierce derives via Old French from Latin 'fel' (gall, bile), which also gives us 'felon'; the noun meaning animal hide traces back to a Germanic root cognate with Latin 'pellis' (skin), seen in English 'pelt'. These distinct origins converged by coincidence of sound into the single modern form.
Related word forms
How fell is actually used
As a verb meaning to cut down, 'fell' is somewhat formal or literary compared with 'cut down'. The noun sense meaning a hill is largely confined to northern England, especially the Lake District, where it appears in many place names such as Scafell Pike.
Easily confused with fell
'Fell' is the past tense of the intransitive verb 'fall', while 'fell' as its own verb means actively knocking something down.
'Feel' means to perceive through touch or emotion, whereas 'fell' means to drop down or to cut something down.