feal
/fiːl/
feal adjective: (of things) Cosy; clean; neat. Also the alternative form of fail.
Adjective (1)
feal (comparative fealer or more feal, superlative fealest or most feal)
- (of things) Cosy; clean; neat.
- 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.1847, Henry Scott Riddell, Poems, songs and miscellaneous pieces
- (of persons) Comfortable; cosy; safe.
- […] 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; […]1822, Allan Cunningham, “Death of the Laird Of Warlsworm”, in Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry, volume 2, page 330
- Smooth; soft; downy; velvety.
Adverb
feal (comparative fealer or more feal, superlative fealest or most feal)
- In a feal manner.
Verb (1)
feal (third-person singular simple present feals, present participle fealing, simple past and past participle fealed)
- To hide.
- He that feals can find. Pro. i. e He that hides, &c.1768, John Ray, A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs: Also the Most Celebrated Proverbs of the Scotch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Other Languages. The Whole Methodically Digested and...
Verb (2)
feal (third-person singular simple present feals, present participle fealing, simple past fale or fealed, past participle folen or fealed)
Adjective (2)
feal (comparative fealer or more feal, superlative fealest or most feal)
Also used as
feal is also the alternative form of fail.
Forms of feal
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | fealer |
| comparative | more feal |
| superlative | fealest |
| superlative | most feal |
| alternative form | feil |
| alternative form | feel |
| alternative form | feele |
| alternative form | fiel |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | fealer |
| comparative | more feal |
| superlative | fealest |
| superlative | most feal |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | feals |
| present participle | fealing |
| past participle | fealed |
| past | fealed |
Origin of feal
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.
Words formed from feal
Phrases with feal
Words that rhyme with feal
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- keel
- anneal
- creel
- peal
- peel
- sweal
- congeal
- Izmail
- kneel
- meal
- Neale
- streal
- weal
- awheel
- Castile
- cochineal
- heal
- Lille
- ordeal
- repeal
- sele
- squeal
- teal
- zeal
- ceil
- debile
- dishabille
- hele
- leal
- lifesteal
- Neil
- Niel
- O'Neill
- reveal
- schlemiel
- seel
- she'll
- shiel
- skeel
- spiel
- square meal
- unseal
- veal
- we'll
- weel
- ye'll
- -meal
- allele
Questions about feal
- What does feal mean?
- Feal means (of things) Cosy; clean; neat.
- What part of speech is feal?
- Feal can be an adjective, an adverb or a verb.
- How do you pronounce feal?
- Feal is pronounced /fiːl/.
Words near feal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: feal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-feel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “feal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/feal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.