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fellow

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "fellow", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "fellow" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "fellow" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

fellow is aEnglishnoun. It means: A companion; a comrade. Pronounced /ˈfɛləʊ/. It ranks #1,791 in English word frequency. Often confused with flow and felon.

Key facts for fellow
PropertyValue
Headwordfellow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɛləʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,791
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of fellow in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for fellow is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɛləʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,791 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 31 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for fellow, with forms such as "efllow", "felloww", and "fellwo". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "flow", "felon", "Fells", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English felowe, Early Middle English felage (“companion, good friend”) from Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse félagi, derived from félag (“joint venture; partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from fé (“livestock, property; … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is fellow, spelled F-E-L-L-O-W, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A companion; a comrade.
  2. 2
    An animal which is a member of a breed or species, or a flock, herd, etc.
  3. 3
    An object which is associated with another object; especially, as part of a set.
  4. 4
    A person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing; especially, as belonging to the same class or group.
  5. 5
    A person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing; especially, as belonging to the same class or group.
  6. 6
    A person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing; especially, as belonging to the same class or group.
  7. 7
    A person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing; especially, as belonging to the same class or group.
  8. 8
    A person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing; especially, as belonging to the same class or group.
  9. 9
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  10. 10
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  11. 11
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  12. 12
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  13. 13
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  14. 14
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  15. 15
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  16. 16
    Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.
  17. 17
    A male person; a bloke, a chap, a guy, a man; also, preceded by a modifying word, sometimes with a sense of mild reproach: used as a familiar term of address to a man.
  18. 18
    Usually qualified by an adjective or used in the plural: an individual or person regardless of gender.
  19. 19
    An animal or object.
  20. 20
    One of a pair of things suited to each other or used together; a counterpart, a mate.
  21. 21
    One of a pair of things suited to each other or used together; a counterpart, a mate.
  22. 22
    Alternative form of fella (“used as a general intensifier”)
  23. 23
    A colleague or partner.
  24. 24
    A colleague or partner.
  25. 25
    A close companion or friend; also, a companion or friend whom one eats or drinks with.
  26. 26
    Followed by of: one who participates in an activity; a participant.
  27. 27
    A man without good breeding or of lower social status; a common or ignoble man; also, used as a polite term of address to such a person.
  28. 28
    A person's servant or slave.
  29. 29
    A worthless person; a churl, a knave; also, used as a term of address to a person regarded as such.
  30. 30
    Synonym of schoolmate (“a student at the same school”).
  31. 31
    A black man.

Etymology

From Middle English felowe, Early Middle English felage (“companion, good friend”) from Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse félagi, derived from félag (“joint venture; partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from fé (“livestock, property; money”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“livestock; wealth”)) + lag (“something laid down; right position; arrangement; companionship, fellowship; partnership”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”)). Cognates * Old Norse filaga, felaka (“partner”, accusative singular), from which the other terms are derived: * Danish fælle (“companion”) * Faroese felagi (“member; partner”) * Icelandic félagi (“companion, comrade, fellow; member; partner”) * Norwegian felle (“companion”) * Old Swedish fälaghi (modern Swedish felaga, felaha (“partner”, accusative singular)) * Scots falow, fallow, follow (“associate, companion, comrade”)

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: efllow,felloww,fellwo,felolw,felow,ffellow,flelow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for fellow

Misspelling Variants of "fellow"

efllow6felloww7fellwo6felolw6felow5ffellow7flelow6
Misspelling Variants of "fellow"

Frequency rank: #1,791 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fellow"?
"fellow" is spelled F-E-L-L-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɛləʊ/.
What does "fellow" mean?
As a noun, "fellow" means: A companion; a comrade.
What words are commonly confused with "fellow"?
"fellow" is commonly confused with "flow", "felon", "Fells". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fellow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fellow" is /ˈfɛləʊ/. 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 "fellow"?
From Middle English felowe, Early Middle English felage (“companion, good friend”) from Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse félagi, derived from félag (“joint venture; partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from fé (“livestock, ... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.