fele

See also: felé, -féle, felë, fêle, and fêlé

English

Alternative forms

• feel, feele, fell

Etymology

From Middle English fele, from Old English feola, fela (“much, many, very”), from Proto-Germanic *felu (“very, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *pélh₁u (“many”). Cognate with Scots fele (“many, much, great”), Dutch veel (“much, many”), German viel (“much, many”), Latin plūs (“more”), Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”). Related to full, few.

Adverb

fele

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Greatly, much, very
   • 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC:

     For they bring in the substance of the Beere / That they drinken feele too good chepe, not dere.

Adjective

fele (comparative feler, superlative felest)

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Much; many.
   • 1513, Gavin Douglas, Eneados:

     This cruel monstre, […] Infect with fell venoum;

   • 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC:

     So fele shippes this yere there ware / That moch losse for vnfreyght they bare.

     So fele ships this year there were / that much loss for unfreight they bore.

Derived terms

• the felest — the majority, most

Pronoun

fele

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Many (of).

Anagrams

• elfe, feel, flee, leef

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛlɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fe‧le
• Rhymes: -lɛ

Etymology 1

Postposition

fele

1. (folksy) Alternative form of felé (“toward(s), around”)

Etymology 2

From the fel- stem of fél (“half”) +‎ -e (“his/her/its”, possessive suffix).

Adjective

fele (not comparable)

1. half (of the)

   A fele gond az enyém. ― Half (of) the trouble is mine.

Derived terms

• felerészben

 

Noun

fele

1. third-person singular single-possession possessive of fél: its half, half of…

   A pénz fele az enyém. ― Half of the money is mine.

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	fele	—
accusative	felét	—
dative	felének	—
instrumental	felével	—
causal-final	feléért	—
translative	felévé	—
terminative	feléig	—
essive-formal	feleként	—
essive-modal	feléül	—
inessive	felében	—
superessive	felén	—
adessive	felénél	—
illative	felébe	—
sublative	felére	—
allative	feléhez	—
elative	feléből	—
delative	feléről	—
ablative	felétől	—
non-attributive possessive - singular	feléé	—
non-attributive possessive - plural	felééi	—

Derived terms

Compound words

• felemás

 

Expressions

• ennek a fele sem tréfa
• minden viccnek a fele igaz

 

Further reading

• (noun sense; a derivative of fél (“its half”)): (2): fél in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (adjective): fele in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (postposition; dialectal alternative form of felé (“towards him/her/it”)): (1): felé in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈfeː.le/, [ˈfeːɫ̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfe.le/, [ˈfɛːle]

Noun

fēle

1. ablative singular of fēlēs

References

• fele in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English fela, felu, from Proto-West Germanic *felu, from Proto-Germanic *felu.

Alternative forms

• fale, feel, fel, feole, vele
• feala, fela, felæ, feola, veole (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛːl(ə)/

Determiner

fele

1. Many, much; an indefinite large number of or quantity.
   • c. 1375, “Book II”, in Iohne Barbour, De geſtis bellis et uirtutibus domini Roberti de Brwyß […] (The Brus, Advocates MS. 19.2.2)‎^[1], Ouchtirmunſye: Iohannes Ramſay, published 1489, folio 5, verso, lines 240-242; republished at Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, c. 2010:

     James off Dowglas þat wes ſyne / Þ[at] yheyt þan wes bot litill off my[ch]t / And oþir fele folk foꝛſye in fy[ch]t […]

     James of Douglas was next; / [he] was then only weak in power / and many other people, mighty in war […]

Derived terms

• felefold

Descendants

• English: fele (obsolete, dialectal)
• Middle Scots: fele (poetic)

Pronoun

fele

1. Many, much; an indefinite large number of or quantity.

Descendants

• English: fele (obsolete, dialectal)
• Middle Scots: fele (poetic)

Adjective

fele

1. great, large, extreme
2. (rare) numerous, manifold

Descendants

• English: fele (obsolete)
• Middle Scots: fele (poetic)

Adverb

fele

1. In a large amount or magnitude; much.
2. Very; to an extreme degree.

Descendants

• English: fele (obsolete)
• Middle Scots: fele (poetic)

References

• “fēle, indef. num.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “fēle, adv..”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old English fǣle, from Proto-West Germanic *failī, from Proto-Germanic *failijaz.

Alternative forms

• feele, fell, felle
• feale (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛːl(ə)/

Adjective

fele (uncommon)

1. good, excellent

Descendants

• English: feal
• Scots: feal, feel, feil

References

• “fēle, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

A back-formation from felen (“to feel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfeːl(ə)/

Noun

fele (uncountable) (rare, Northern)

1. The sense of touch; the capacity to feel.
2. (by extension) Awareness, perception.

Descendants

• English: feel
• Scots: feel

References

• “fẹ̄le, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 4

Noun

fele

1. Alternative form of felawe

Etymology 5

Verb

fele

1. Alternative form of felen (“to feel”)

Neapolitan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈfɛːlə]
• (Castelmezzano) IPA^(key): [ˈfeːlə]

Noun

fele m (plural [please provide])

1. bile

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 140: “il fiele” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• Giacco, Giuseppe (2003) “fèle”, in Schedario Napoletano

Norwegian Bokmål

ei fele
a violin

Etymology

From Old Norse fiðla. Compare English fiddle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feːle/, [ˈfeː.lə]

Noun

fele f or m (definite singular fela or felen, indefinite plural feler, definite plural felene)

1. a violin
2. a fiddle; any form of stringed instrument

Synonyms

• (violin): fiolin

Derived terms

• felemusikk
• hardingfele

References

“fele” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse fiðla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feːle/, [ˈfeː.lə]

Noun

fele f (definite singular fela, indefinite plural feler, definite plural felene)

1. a violin
2. a fiddle; any form of stringed instrument

Synonyms

• (violin): fiolin

Derived terms

• felemusikk
• hardingfele

References

“fele” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfeː.le/

Verb

fēle

1. inflection of fēlan:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. singular present subjunctive

Old Irish

Verb

fele (relative)

1. Alternative form of fil

Spanish

Verb

fele

1. inflection of felar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative