FromMiddle Englishfele,fæle(“proper, of the right sort”), fromOld Englishfǣle(“faithful, trusty, good; dear, beloved”), fromProto-West Germanic*failī, fromProto-Germanic*failijaz(“true, friendly, familiar, good”), fromProto-Indo-European*pey-(“to adore”). Cognate withScotsfeel,feelie(“cosy, neat, clean, comfortable”),West Frisianfeilich(“safe”),Dutchveil(“for-sale”),Dutchveilig(“safe”),Germanfeil(“for-sale”),Latinpīus(“good, dutiful, faithful, devout, pious”).
feal (comparativefealerormorefeal,superlativefealestormostfeal)
- (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 andfeel as ony lair King ever lay on — and that is mair Than mony ane could warrant.
- (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland)(of persons)Comfortable;cosy;safe.
1822, Allan Cunningham, “Death of the Laird Of Warlsworm”, inTraditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry, volume 2,page330:[…] when I care na to accompany ye to the kirkyard hole mysel, and take my word for't, ye'Il lie saftest andfealest on the Buittle side of the kirk;[…]
- (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland)Smooth;soft;downy;velvety.
feal (comparativefealerormorefeal,superlativefealestormostfeal)
- In a fealmanner.
FromMiddle Englishfelen, fromOld Norsefela(“to hide”), fromProto-Germanic*felhaną(“to conceal, hide, bury, trust, intrude”), fromProto-Indo-European*pele(w)-,*plē(w)-(“to hide”). Cognate withOld High Germanfelahan(“to pass, trust, sow”),Old Englishfēolan(“to cleave, enter, penetrate”).
feal (third-person singular simple presentfeals,present participlefealing,simple past and past participlefealed)
- (transitive, dialectal) Tohide.
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, page29:He thatfeals can find. Pro.i. e He that hides,&c.
FromMiddle Englishfelen(“to come at (one's enemies), advance”), fromOld Englishfēolan(“to cleave, enter, penetrate”), fromProto-Germanic*felhaną.
feal (third-person singular simple presentfeals,present participlefealing,simple pastfaleorfealed,past participlefolenorfealed)
- (obsolete) Topress on,advance.
1338,Robert Mannyng,Mannyng's Chronicle:Durst none of them furtherfeal.
Borrowed fromMiddle Scotsfeal, fromEarly Scotsfeal, fromOld Frenchfeal, collateral form offeeil, fromLatinfidelis.
feal (comparativefealerormorefeal,superlativefealestormostfeal)
- (archaic)Faithful,loyal.
1877, Edward Arber,An English Garner: The voyages of Sir William Hawkins ...:France, and froward Ireland, with our English land, / Arefeal subjects to your royal hand.
Unknown; seefail.
feal (pluralfeals)
- Alternative form offail(“piece of turf cut from grassland”)
Fromfeo(“hay”) +-al, suffix which forms place names. FromLatinfēnum(“hay”).
feal m (pluralfeais)
- hayfield
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “feal”, inDicionario 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”, inTesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “feal”, inTesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega,→ISSN
Probablyborrowed fromAnglo-Normanfeal(“faithful”), earlierfedeil, fromLatinfidēlis; comparefeaute.
In Middle English, reinterpreted asfe(“fee”) +-al, influencing both the sense and form.
feal(Early Scots, Scots law)
- Astipend orallowance given tosomeone.
- (rare)Ownership ofland underfeudalism.
- (rare)Fealty; feudalallegiance,fidelity, orloyalty.
- “feal(e, feall,n.”, inThe Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh:Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present,→OCLC, reproduced fromWilliam 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.
