Feal
adj, adv, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative form of fail (“piece of turf cut from grassland”) alt-of, alternative
- 1 To hide. dialectal, transitive
"He that feals can find. Pro. i. e He that hides, &c."
- 2 To press on, advance. obsolete
"Durst none of them further feal."
- 1 (of things) Cosy; clean; neat. Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal
"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."
- 2 Faithful, loyal. archaic
"France, and froward Ireland, with our English land, / Are feal subjects to your royal hand."
- 3 (of persons) Comfortable; cosy; safe. Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal
"[…] 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; […]"
- 4 Smooth; soft; downy; velvety. Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 1 In a feal manner.
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
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”).
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”).
From Middle English felen (“to come at (one's enemies), advance”), from Old English fēolan (“to cleave, enter, penetrate”), from Proto-Germanic *felhaną.
Borrowed from Middle Scots feal, from Early Scots feal, from Old French feal, collateral form of feeil, from Latin fidelis.
Unknown; see fail.
Related phrases
More for "feal"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.