fellow English · revision 3402

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1016|origins=non félagi}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈfel.əʊ/, US /ˈfel.oʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|felawe]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|fēolaga|t=partner, one who shares with another]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|non|félagi|t=comrade, partner, shareholder]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|non|fé|t=cattle, property, money]] and the Germanic base of [[lay]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*legh-|t=to lie down, lay]].^(Etymonline) Its literal sense is “one who lays down money with another in a joint undertaking”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) Old Norse fé is related to [[fee]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A partner, one who shares with another in a possession or office: 1016, in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the American Heritage Dictionary notes, the ancestor of the word referred to a business partner.^(AHD) A companion, comrade is from about 1200,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) one of the same kind from the early 13th century,^(Etymonline) and one of a pair from about 1300.^(Etymonline) Used familiarly for any man from the mid-15th century, it is not etymologically masculine, and the King James Bible uses it of women.^(Etymonline) It has been contemptuous or dignified at different times, and has often carried a tinge of condescension.^(Etymonline) The university sense, a member of a college corporation paid from its revenues, is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) and a member of a learned society later.^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD) ''Fellow well met'' is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) In compounds it has meant “co-, joint” since the 16th century, as in ''fellow-traveller'', literal from the 1610s and in the 20th century a Communist sympathizer.^(Etymonline) ''Fellowship'' is from before 1200.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1016 – a partner.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1200 – ''fellowship''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – a companion.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – one of a pair.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – any man; a college fellow.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – ''fellow well met''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – ''fellow-traveller''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' A man or boy.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A companion or [[comrade]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person of equal rank; a [[peer]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # One of a pair; a match.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A member of a learned society, or of the governing body of a college.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A graduate student holding a [[fellowship]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Being of the same group or kind: ''fellow workers''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bedfellow]]

+ * [[blackfellow]]

+ * [[fella]]

+ * [[feller]]

+ * [[fellowly]]

+ * [[fellowship]]

+ * [[hail-fellow]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fee]]

+ * [[lay]]

+ * [[law]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}