Meaning of the word fell

Recent Examples on the Web

This stream is strewn with mammoth conifers felled into the water as the banks were violently undercut.


—Lesley Evans Ogden, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2023




Danny Sauter, a board member of North Beach Neighbors, said Safeway was among several Bay and Taylor Street businesses felled over the past several years, including a clothing store, a gym, a market, a Walgreens and a hardware store.


—Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 31 Mar. 2023




Olson, who struggled to swallow and suffered through headaches in the days after being felled, argues that slap fighting shouldn’t be sanctioned as a sport.


—Kurt Streeter, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2023




But in a sport where even the stoutest lineups can be felled by the fickle bounce of a puck, no GM is ever completely satisfied.


—Conor Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Feb. 2023




King Dough was the latest top seed felled by the Hellenic sword of No. 7 Greek’s, who beat the No. 1 seed by more than 30 percentage points.


—Rory Appleton, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Apr. 2023




The park’s history begins with what would have been its demise, logged for decades before preservationists thought better of felling the world’s tallest trees.


—Chelsee Lowe, Travel + Leisure, 29 Mar. 2023




Hurricane-like winds felled hundreds of trees and limbs in San Francisco.


—Jordan Parker, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Mar. 2023




The zebra was eventually cornered and felled by a tranquilizer dart, after which he was brought home safely around 6 p.m.


—Stella Kim, NBC News, 24 Mar. 2023

In tribute to the queen’s love of fell ponies, one of her own, Emma, stood on Windsor’s Long Walk on Monday as the parade went by.


—Joanna Sugden, WSJ, 20 Sep. 2022




To celebrate her 96th birthday in April, a majestic shot of the Queen surrounded by her fell ponies was also released.


—Simon Perry, PEOPLE.com, 1 June 2022




One of her fell ponies, named Balmoral Leia, won the Highland Class.


—Emily Burack, Town & Country, 13 May 2022




Meanwhile, the palace released a new portrait of the long-running monarch, standing between and holding the reigns of two of her fell ponies.


—Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY, 9 May 2022




The portrait shows Her Majesty standing in between two of her fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale, on the grounds of Windsor Castle.


—Chelsey Sanchez, Harper’s BAZAAR, 20 Apr. 2022




In it, the monarch stands between two of her white fell ponies—named Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale—on the grounds of Windsor Castle.


—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 20 Apr. 2022




Taken last month in the grounds of Windsor Castle, The Queen is pictured with two of her fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale.


—William Booth, Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2022




With one fell swoop, the wizards of Wolfsburg have transformed the ho-hum VW Scirocco from an also-ran into a supercoupe to be reckoned with.


—Csaba Csere, Car and Driver, 21 Mar. 2023

Fell-Davis fell apart.


—Meg Bernhard, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2023




As day turned to night, an uncanny quiet fell, with the remnants of Ghani’s government calling for calm.


—Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2021


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Recent Examples on the Web

All three fell at the same time.


—CBS News, 8 Apr. 2023




The crowd fell silent as a gun salute marked the official start of the rally.


—Julia Boyd, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Apr. 2023




By the time any new matter would fall into the monster black hole, it’s already moved on and dragged the material around into its wake.


—Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 9 Apr. 2023




Ratings have not fallen by much since the debut.


—Rodney Ho, ajc, 8 Apr. 2023




Their success has raised questions about whether the tech behemoths have fallen behind on innovation.


—Caroline O’donovan, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2023




Snow fell lightly now and then in flat-calm air.


—Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News, 8 Apr. 2023




Three towering pine trees fell near patrons as storms rolled through Augusta National on Friday, though nobody was hurt, and the second round of the Masters was suspended for the day amid heavy wind and rain.


—Dave Skretta, Chicago Tribune, 8 Apr. 2023




San Francisco Crime Statistics (Mobile users go here) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP City crime statistics show that most major crimes have fallen so far in 2023, compared to the same period last year.


—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 7 Apr. 2023

Freeze doesn’t know if his starting quarterback for this fall is even on campus yet, but look around the SEC before calling Auburn a hopeless rebuilding project for the 2023 season.


—Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 9 Apr. 2023




My Indigo Road furniture line launches this fall.


—Country Living Staff, Country Living, 9 Apr. 2023




The Paralympic Games are set for Aug. 28 to Sept. 8, and tickets will become available this fall.


—Catherine Garcia, The Week, 8 Apr. 2023




Stadtler said the state plans to select the builders by this fall.


—Luz Lazo, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2023




Apple is expected to release at least one more major update for iOS 16, dubbed iOS 16.5, before iOS 17 is introduced this fall.


—Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 7 Apr. 2023




Meanwhile, Funny Girl has already set a closing date for this coming fall with the revival’s final performance officially scheduled for Sept. 3.


—Glenn Rowley, Billboard, 7 Apr. 2023




Navarre now helps organize events like the Alaska March Madness high school basketball tournaments for the Alaska School Activities Association and was the defensive coordinator for the Dimond girls flag football team, which won its third straight Cook Inlet Conference title this past fall.


—Josh Reed, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Apr. 2023




Dan Campbell will not be taking his Detroit Lions across international waters this fall.


—Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 6 Apr. 2023

On 31 March, shortly after Dior’s pre-fall extravaganza at the Gateway of India, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre officially opened its doors in Mumbai, with the likes of Gigi Hadid, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Karlie Kloss turning out for the red-carpet launch.


—Akanksha Kamath, Vogue, 3 Apr. 2023




The fashion industry experienced a first on Thursday: Dior showed its pre-fall collection in Mumbai, marking the first time a major fashion label outside of India has shown in the country.


—Kevin Leblanc, ELLE, 31 Mar. 2023




Quantumania Los Angeles premiere in a trailing cheetah-print Caroline Herrera strapless gown (pulled straight off the pre-fall runway!) and black heels with asymmetrical straps.


—Zizi Strater, Peoplemag, 7 Feb. 2023




Although playground surfaces have been investigated for fall impact attenuation, the surfaces that cheerleaders use have received little attention.


—Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 21 Jan. 2010




The band is gearing up for a fall European tour, followed by a long tour of the United States, including the group’s annual three-day GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach, named after the band’s record label.


—Dallas News, 4 Oct. 2022




While silhouette options are many, the full-legged pantsuit leads the pre-fall pack, and short suits (for men and women) are a close second.


—Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, 9 Jan. 2023




Last week, Chanel staged its new pre-fall 2023 show in Dakar, Senegal.


—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 12 Dec. 2022




Olsen is supporting the project on a fall European tour, beginning next week in Lisbon.


—Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 20 Sep. 2022


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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /fɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English fellen, from Old English fellan, fiellan (“to cause to fall, strike down, fell, cut down, throw down, defeat, destroy, kill, tumble, cause to stumble”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallijan, from Proto-Germanic *fallijaną (“to fell, to cause to fall”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH- (“to fall”).

Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“to fell”), Danish fælde (“to fell”), Norwegian felle (“to fell”).

Verb[edit]

fell (third-person singular simple present fells, present participle felling, simple past and past participle felled)

1. (transitive) To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     Stand, or I’ll fell thee down.

   • 2011 October 2, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2 — 0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport Wales‎^[1]:

     Sinclair opened Swansea’s account from the spot on 8 minutes after a Ryan Shawcross tackle had felled Wayne Routledge.
2. (transitive) To strike down, kill, destroy.
   • 2016 January 17, «What Weiner Reveals About Huma Abedin,» Vanity Fair (retrieved 21 January 2016):

     This Sunday marks the debut of Weiner, a documentary that follows former congressman Anthony Weiner in his attempt to overcome a sexting scandal and run for mayor of New York City—only to be felled, somewhat inexplicably, by another sexting scandal.

   • 1922, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Chessmen of Mars‎^[2], HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2010:

     Gahan, horrified, saw the latter’s head topple from its body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. … The creature that had felled its companion was dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. … Then it was that Gahan’s eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive had felled.

   • 2010 September 27, Christina Passariello, “Prodos Capital, Samsung Make Final Cut for Ferré”, in Wall Street Journal‎^[3], retrieved 2012-08-26:

     … could make Ferré the first major fashion label felled by the economic crisis to come out the other end of restructuring.

3. (sewing) To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.
   • 2006, Colette Wolff, The Art of Manipulating Fabric, page 296:

     To fell seam allowances, catch the lining underneath before emerging 1/4″ (6mm) ahead, and 1/8″ (3mm) to 1/4″ (6mm) into the seam allowance.

Derived terms[edit]

• little strokes fell great oaks

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

fell (plural fells)

1. A cutting-down of timber.
2. The stitching down of a fold of cloth; specifically, the portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down.
3. (textiles) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.

Derived terms[edit]

• fell stitch

Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English fell, fel, vel, from Old English fel, fell (“hide, skin, pelt”), from Proto-West Germanic *fell, from Proto-Germanic *fellą, from Proto-Indo-European *pél-no- (“skin, animal hide”).

See also West Frisian fel, Dutch vel, German Fell, Latin pellis (“skin”), Lithuanian plėnė (“skin”), Russian плена́ (plená, “pelt”), Albanian plah (“to cover”), Ancient Greek πέλλᾱς (péllās, “skin”). Related to film, felt, pell, and pelt.

Noun[edit]

fell (plural fells)

2. An animal skin, hide, pelt.

   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], line 35:

     Why, we are still handling our ewes, and their fells, you know, are greasy.

3. Human skin (now only as a metaphorical use of previous sense).
   • c. 1390, William Langland, Piers Plowman, I:

     For he is fader of feith · fourmed ȝow alle / Bothe with fel and with face.

Derived terms[edit]

• fellmaker

Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English fell, felle (“hill, mountain”), from Old Norse fell, fjall (“rock, mountain”), compare Norwegian Bokmål fjell ‘mountain’, Danish fjeld ‘mountain’, from Proto-Germanic *felzą, *fel(e)zaz, *falisaz (compare German Felsen ‘boulder, cliff’, Middle Low German vels ‘hill, mountain’), from Proto-Indo-European *pels-; compare Irish aill (“boulder, cliff”), Ancient Greek πέλλα (pélla, “stone”), Pashto پرښه‎ (parṣ̌a, “rock, rocky ledge”), Sanskrit पाषाण (pāşāņá, “stone”). Doublet of fjeld.

Noun[edit]

fell (plural fells)

2. (archaic outside UK) A rocky ridge or chain of mountains.

   • 1886, Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston, The Squire of Sandal-Side : A Pastoral Romance‎^[4]:

     Every now and then the sea calls some farmer or shepherd, and the restless drop in his veins gives him no peace till he has found his way over the hills and fells to the port of Whitehaven, and gone back to the cradling bosom that rocked his ancestors.

   • 1937, Tolkien, J.R.R., The Hobbit:

     The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, / While hammers fell like ringing bells, / In places deep, where dark things sleep, / In hollow halls beneath the fells.

   • 1970, Herriot, James, If Only They Could Talk:

     I got out and from where I stood, high at the head, I could see all of the strangely formed cleft in the hills, its steep sides grooved and furrowed by countless streams feeding the boisterous Halden Beck which tumbled over its rocky bed far below. Down there, were trees and some cultivated fields, but immediately behind me the wild country came crowding in on the bowl where the farmhouse lay. Halsten Pike, Alstang, Birnside—the huge fells with their barbarous names were very near.

   • 1971, Cookson, Catherine, The Dwelling Place:

     She didn’t know at first why she stepped off the road and climbed the bank on to the fells; it wasn’t until she found herself skirting a disused quarry that she realised where she was making for, and when she reached the place she stood and gazed at it. It was a hollow within an outcrop of rock, not large enough to call a cave but deep enough to shelter eight people from the rain, and with room to spare.

3. (archaic outside UK) A wild field or upland moor.
   • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion song 11 p. 174[5]:

     As over Holt and Heath, as thorough Frith and Fell;

   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:

     And there are few better ways to enjoy the rugged bleakness of the fells than from a nice warm train, especially when the weather’s constantly changing as the day slips away.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *fali, *falu, from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”), from Proto-Indo-European *pol- (“to pour, flow, swim, fly”). Cognate with Old Frisian fal (“cruel”), Middle Dutch fel (“wrathful, cruel, bad, base”), German Low German fell (“rash, swift”), Danish fæl (“disgusting, hideous, ghastly, grim”). Compare also Middle High German vālant (“imp”). See felon.

Adjective[edit]

fell (comparative feller, superlative fellest)

1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.

   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi]:

     […] While we devise fell tortures for thy faults.

   • 1662, [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, canto 2:

     And many a serpent of fell kind, / With wings before, and stings behind

   • 1862, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London:

     […] but if it be solitary with the position of an incisor, will it even then bear out Professor Owen’s hypothesis, that Thylacoleo, which he infers to have been one of “the fellest and most destructive of predatory beasts, […]

   • 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:

     The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

     No words had been exchanged between Upjohn and self on the journey out, but the glimpses I had caught of his face from the corner of the eyes had told me that he was grim and resolute, his supply of the milk of human kindness plainly short by several gallons. No hope, it seemed to me, of turning him from his fell purpose.

2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent
3. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Very large; huge.
4. (obsolete) Eager; earnest; intent.

   • 1667 January 25 (date written; Gregorian calendar)​, Samuel Pepys; Mynors Bright, transcriber, “January 15th, 1666–1667”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC:

     I am so fell to my business.

Translations[edit]

Adverb[edit]

fell (comparative more fell, superlative most fell)

1. Sharply; fiercely.

Derived terms[edit]

• fellness

Etymology 5[edit]

Perhaps from Latin fel (“gall, poison, bitterness”), or more probably from the adjective above.

Noun[edit]

fell (uncountable)

1. (obsolete, rare) Anger; gall; melancholy.
   • 1885–1887, Gerard Manley Hopkins, “[Poem 45]”, in Robert Bridges, editor, Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins: Now First Published […], London: Humphrey Milford, published 1918, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 66:

     I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day. / What hours, O what black hoürs we have spent / This night!

Etymology 6[edit]

Noun[edit]

fell

1. (mining) The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting.

Etymology 7[edit]

Verb[edit]

fell

1. simple past tense of fall
2. (now colloquial) past participle of fall

   • 1650, Micheel Sandivogius, J. F., transl., A New Light of Alchymie: Taken Out of the Fountaine of Nature, and Manuall Experience […] ‎^[6], London: Richard Cotes, page 121:

     For I have heard that my Enemies have fell into that ſnare which they laid for mee. They which would have taken away my life have loſt their own; […]

   • 1796, Thomas Bennett, The Life and Remarkable Conversion of T. Bennett, Etc. [Written by Himself.]‎^[7], London, →ISBN, page 31:

     I ſhould have fell overboard, or been killed by the enemy ; for having ſo many things to carry along with me, which I knew not how to uſe […]

   • 2013 October 3, John McGahern, Collected Stories‎^[8], Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 147:

     And when it got to ten past I said you must have fell in with company, but I was beginning to get worried.’ ‘You know I never fall in with company,’ he protested irritably. ‘I always leave the Royal at ten to, never a minute more nor less.’

Further reading[edit]

Albanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Albanian *spesla, metathesized form of *spelsa, from Proto-Indo-European *pels- (“rock, boulder”), variant of *spel- (“to cleave, break”). Compare Latin hydronym Pelso, Latin Palatium, Pashto پرښه‎ (parša, “rock, rocky ledge”), Ancient Greek πέλλα (pélla, “stone”), German Felsen (“boulder, cliff”). Mostly dialectal, used in Gheg Albanian.

Adverb[edit]

fell

1. deep, shallow

Derived terms[edit]

• fellë

[edit]

• fyell

Icelandic[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Old Norse fjall (“mountain”)

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /fɛtl/
• Rhymes: -ɛtl

Noun[edit]

fell n (genitive singular fells, nominative plural fell)

1. isolated hill, isolated mountain

Declension[edit]

Verb[edit]

fell

1. first-person singular present indicative active of falla

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Adjective[edit]

fell

1. Alternative form of fele (“good”)

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

fell

1. Alternative form of fille

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Verb[edit]

fell

1. imperative of felle

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Verb[edit]

fell

1. present of falle

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

fell

1. imperative of fella

Old English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• fel

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *fell, whence also Old High German vel.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /fell/, [feɫ]

Noun[edit]

fell n

1. fell
2. skin

Old Norse[edit]

Verb[edit]

fell

1. inflection of falla:
   1. first-person singular present/past active indicative
   2. third-person singular past active indicative

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

«Fells» redirects here. For the surname, see Fells (surname).

A fell (from Old Norse fell, fjall, «mountain»^[1]) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, parts of northern England, and Scotland.

Etymology[edit]

The English word «fell» comes from Old Norse fell and fjall (both forms existed).^[1] It is cognate with Danish fjeld, Faroese fjall and fjøll, Icelandic fjall and fell, Norwegian fjell with dialects fjøll, fjødd, fjedd, fjedl, fjill, fil(l), and fel,^[2] and Swedish fjäll, all referring to mountains rising above the alpine tree line.^[3]

British Isles[edit]

In northern England, especially in the Lake District and in the Pennine Dales, the word «fell» originally referred to an area of uncultivated high ground used as common grazing usually on common land and above the timberline. Today, generally, «fell» refers to the mountains and hills of the Lake District and the Pennine Dales.

Names that originally referred to grazing areas have been applied to these hilltops. This is the case with Seathwaite Fell, for example, which would be the common grazing land used by the farmers of Seathwaite. The fellgate marks the road from a settlement onto the fell (see photograph for example), as is the case with the Seathwaite Fell. In other cases the reverse is true; for instance, the name of Wetherlam, in the Coniston Fells, though understood to refer to the mountain as a whole, strictly speaking refers to the summit; the slopes have names such as Tilberthwaite High Fell, Low Fell and Above Beck Fells.

The word «fell» is also used in the names of various breeds of livestock, bred for life on the uplands, such as Rough Fell sheep, Fell terriers and Fell ponies.

It is also found in many place names across the north of England, often attached to the name of a community; thus the township of Cartmel Fell.

In northern England, there is a Lord of the Fells – this ancient aristocratic title being associated with the Lords of Bowland.

Groups of cairns are a common feature on many fells, often marking the summit – there are fine examples on Wild Boar Fell in Mallerstang Dale, Cumbria, and on Nine Standards Rigg just outside Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria.

As the most mountainous region of England, the Lake District is the area most closely associated with the sport of fell running, which takes its name from the fells of the district. «Fellwalking» is also the term used locally for the activity known in the rest of Great Britain as hillwalking.

The word «fell» also enjoys limited use in Scotland; with, for example, the Campsie Fells in central Scotland, to the north-east of Glasgow. One of the most famous examples of the use of the word «fell» in Scotland is Goat Fell, the highest point on the Isle of Arran. Criffel and the nearby Long Fell in Galloway may be seen from the northern Lake District of England. Peel Fell in the Kielder Forest is on the border between the Scottish Borders to the north and the English county of Northumberland to the south.

Fennoscandia[edit]

Norway[edit]

In Norway, fjell, in common usage, is generally interpreted as simply a summit or area of greater altitude than a hill, which leads to a great deal of local variation in what is defined as a fjell. Fjell is mostly used about areas above the forest line. Distinct summits can be referred to as et fjell (a mountain). High plateaus (vidde landscape) such as Hardangervidda are also regarded as fjell.^[4][5] Professor of geography at the University of Bergen, Anders Lundeberg, has summed up the problem by stating, «There simply is no fixed and unambiguous definition of fjell.»^[6] Ivar Aasen defined fjell as a «tall berg«, primarily referring to a berg that reaches an altitude where trees don’t grow, lower berg are referred to as «berg», ås (hill, ridge) or hei (moor, heathland). The fixed expression til fjells refers to mountains (or uplands) as a collective rather than a specific location or specific summit (the «s» in til fjells is an old genitive form remaining only in fixed expressions). According to Ivar Aasen, berg refers to cliffs, bedrock and notable elevations of the surface underpinned by bedrock; berg also refers to the substance of bedrock.^[7][8] For all practical purposes, fjell can be translated as «mountain» and the Norwegian language has no other commonly used word for mountain.^{[citation needed]}

Sweden[edit]

In Sweden, fjäll generally refers to any mountain or upland high enough that forest will not naturally survive at the top, in effect a mountain tundra. Fjäll is primarily used to describe mountains in the Nordic countries, but also more generally to describe mountains shaped by massive ice sheets, primarily in Arctic and subarctic regions. There are however dialectal differences in usage, with comparatively low mountains or plateaus, sometimes tree-covered, in Bohuslän and Västergötland (e.g. Safjällets nationalpark [sv] and Kynnefjäll [sv]) being referred to as «fjäll», similar to how the word is used in Norwegian^{[citation needed]}

Finland[edit]

In Finnish, the mountains characteristic of the region of Lapland are called tunturi (plural: tunturit), i.e. «fell». A tunturi is a hill high enough that its top is above the tree line and has alpine tundra. In Finnish, the geographical term vuori is used for mountains recently uplifted and with jagged terrain featuring permanent glaciers, while tunturi refers to the old, highly eroded, gently shaped terrain without glaciers, as found in Finland.^[9] They are round inselbergs rising from the otherwise flat surroundings. The tree line can be at a rather low altitude, such as 600 m in Enontekiö, owing to the high latitude. The fells in Finnish Lapland form vestiges of the Karelides mountains, formed two billion years ago. The term tunturi is also generally used to refer to treeless plains at high altitudes in far north regions. The term tunturi, originally a word limited to far-Northern dialects of Finnish and Karelian, is a loan from Sami, compare Proto-Sami *tuontër, South Sami doedtere, Northern Sami duottar, Inari Sami tuodâr «uplands, mountains, tundra», Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means «uplands, treeless mountain tract» and is cognate with Finnish tanner «hard ground».^[10] From this Sami word, the word «tundra» is borrowed, as well, through the Russian language.^[11][12] Hills that are over 50 m high, but do not reach the tree line are referred to as vaara, while the general term for hills including hills of 50 m or less is mäki.^[13] In place names, however, tunturi, vaara and vuori are used inconsistently, e.g. Rukatunturi is technically a vaara, as it lacks alpine tundra.^{[citation needed]}

Förfjäll[edit]

The term förfjäll (literally «fore-fell») is used in Sweden and Finland^[14] to denote mountainous zones lower and less dissected than the fell proper. However, its more pronounced relief, its often higher amount of plateaux, and its coherent valley systems distinguishes the förfjäll also from the undulating hilly terrain (bergkullsterräng) and the plains with residual hills (bergkullslätt). Generally, the förfjäll do not surpass 1000 m ASL. As a geomorphic unit, the förfjäll extends across Sweden as a 650 km-long and 40 km to 80 km-broad belt from Dalarna in the south to Norrbotten in the north.^[15]

Scandinavian and English terms[edit]

• bekkr — ‘stream’ » beck
• dalr — ‘valley’ » dale
• fors — ‘waterfall’ » force/foss
• fjallr — ‘mountain’ (usually a large, flat mountain) » fell
• gil — ‘ravine’ » gill/ghyll
• haugr — ‘hill’ » howe
• pic — ‘peak’ » pike
• sætr — ‘shieling’ » side/seat
• tjorn — ‘small lake’ » tarn
• þveit — ‘clearing’ » thwaite
• ness — ‘headland’ » ness

See also[edit]

• Fell farming
• Fell Terrier
• List of fells in the Lake District
• List of Wainwrights (the 214 fells described in A. Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells)
• The Outlying Fells of Lakeland
• List of Birketts (the 541 fells in Bill Birketts Complete Lakeland Fells)
• Middlesex Fells, a rocky highland just north of Boston, Massachusetts
• Snaefell, Isle of Man
• Nunatak

Notes[edit]

References[edit]