feel
/fiːl/
verb
Origin
Proto-Germanic
*fōlijaną — to touch, perceive
Overview
Meaning Now
- To perceive or examine by touch.
- To experience an emotion or physical sensation.
- To have a belief or opinion about something, often based on intuition.
Language path
Proto-Germanic → Old English → English
Earliest form
fēlan
Earliest period
Old English
Journey
The word stems from a West Germanic root that originally emphasized the tactile sense of touching or examining objects with the hands, gradually expanding in the medieval period to encompass emotional states and internal sensations.
Evolution
- Proto-Germanic
*fōlijaną
“to touch, handle, feel”
- Old English
fēlan
“to touch, experience, perceive”
- Middle English
felen
“to touch, feel, perceive mentally”
- Modern English
feel
“physical sensation, emotion, opinion”
Connections
Word parts
feel
root
perceive or touch
Related across languages
German
fühlen
to feel
Dutch
voelen
to feel
Explore next
Related to feel
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.