# feal
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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)
* (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.
* (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; […]
* (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)
* 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)
* (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)
* (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)
* (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)
* 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: /feˈal/

### Noun

feal m (plural feais)
* 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: /feːˈaːl/, /ˈfeːal/

### Noun

feal (Early Scots, Scots law)
* A stipend or allowance given to someone.
* (rare) Ownership of land under feudalism.
* (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.