Etymologically
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fel

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfɛɫ][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛl][1]

Forms

fel n (genitive fellis); third declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][1] The closest cognates meaning “bile”, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”), Latvian žults (“bile”), Old Church Slavonic зълчь (zlŭčĭ, “bile”) and Old High German galla (“gall”), have *ǵʰ-, so if it is from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelH- (“yellow, green”) the initial /f/ must be dialectal.[2][1][3] De Vaan also allows a root *bʰl(H)-, as in flāvus “yellow”.[2] The nominative must be from *fell, and the paradigm may have been influenced by mel “honey”, which also has ⟨ll⟩ in its genitive.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was the bile secreted by the liver, the gall bladder, as Cicero's gall of a chicken in divination, and the venom of a viper.[3][4] Figuratively it was bitterness, venom or rancour, as the gall of Ovid's Envy.[3] Fel terrae “gall of the earth” was the plant centaury.[3] Döderlein says it was the gall of animals and a symbol of bitterness to the taste, against bīlis, human bile and a symbol of anger.[6]

In medieval Latin it was gall as a type of bitterness, often set against mel “honey”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it figuratively.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a chicken's gall bladder.[3][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder calls centaury fel terrae.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Bile, gall.[3][8]
  2. Bitterness, venom, rancour.[3][1]
  3. The gall bladder.[3][1]
  4. Fel terrae, the plant centaury.[3]

Word family

  • felleus
  • felliducus
  • fellifluus
  • fellītus
  • fellosus

Usage notes

Isidore derives it from the bladder, folliculus, that carries the bile.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).