Past tense of fall, meaning to have dropped or descended. Can also mean to cut down a tree or cause something to collapse.
From Old English 'feoll', past tense of 'feallan' (to fall). The verb 'to fell' (meaning to cut down) comes from a different root - Old English 'fiellan', meaning to cause to fall, creating two related but distinct meanings.
The word 'fell' creates fascinating confusion because it's both the past tense of 'fall' and a separate verb meaning 'to cut down'. This dual identity makes it a classic example of how English evolved from multiple sources - the falling meaning from natural Germanic roots, while the cutting meaning developed from causative verb forms.
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