Fardel
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A fourth part: a quarter of anything.
"I... bought a Farthel of Bread and a Mutckin of Ale."
- 2 A bundle or burden. obsolete
"Hees forc't to trot with fardle at his backe, / From houſe to houſe, demaunding if they lacke / A poore yong man that's willing to take paine, / And mickle labour, though for little gaine."
- 3 a burden (figuratively in the form of a bundle) wordnet
- 4 An English unit of land area variously understood as the fourth part of an oxgang or of a yardland. historical
"You must note, that two Fardells of Land make a Nooke of Land, and two Nookes make halfe a Yard of Land."
- 1 To make up in fardels; to bunch. obsolete, transitive
"Here are foure vntruths fardelled vp together"
Example
More examples"I... bought a Farthel of Bread and a Mutckin of Ale."
Etymology
A clipped form of Middle English ferthendel (literally “fourth part”), equivalent to fourth + deal. Cognate with Dutch vierendeel (“a fourth part, quarter”), German Viertel (“a quarter, fourth”), Danish fjerdedel (“a quarter”), Swedish fjärdedel (“a fourth, quarter”).
From Middle English fardel, from Old French fardel (“pack, bundle”), from Spanish fardel, diminutive of fardo (“pack, bundle”), from Arabic فَرْد (fard, “one of a pair”), as applied to saddlebags.
Related phrases
More for "fardel"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.