fell

/fɛl/

//fɛl// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"fell" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fell” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,483) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,483
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fell · fell · English

fell · rank #1,483 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,483
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fat

Nearest frequency peer: fat (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “fell”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “fell” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

fell vs FL
0% similar
fell vs few
50% similar
fell vs fly
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for fell
PropertyValue
Headwordfell
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/fɛl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,483
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “fell”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).felllands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “fat” (#1,482), “finding” (#1,484), “exchange” (#1,481). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fell” is #1,483. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for fell is neighbouring look-alikes ("FL", "few", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /fɛl/. Frequency #1,483 among 2,507 “F” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for fell, with forms such as "efll", "ffell", and "flel". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "FL", "few", "fly", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 cau… The correct English form is fell, spelled F-E-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
  2. 2
    To strike down, kill, destroy.
  3. 3
    To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fell appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Stand, or I'll fell thee down.
  2. Sinclair opened Swansea's account from the spot on 8 minutes after a Ryan Shawcross tackle had felled Wayne Routledge.

Etymology

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 *h₂peh₃lH-. Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“to fell”), Danish fælde (“to fell”), Norwegian felle (“to fell”).

This word in other languages

talar(Español)abattre(Français)fällen(Deutsch)abater(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • efll
  • ffell
  • flel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fell - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

efll2ffell1flel2
Edit distance from "fell"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fell"?
"fell" is spelled F-E-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /fɛl/.
What does "fell" mean?
As a verb, "fell" means: To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
What words are commonly confused with "fell"?
"fell" is commonly confused with "FL", "few", "fly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fell"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fell" is /fɛl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fell"?
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 fe... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fell", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ride#1,498slow#1,504tree#1,508heat#1,456

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list