Plural of 'felon,' an archaic or variant spelling referring to people convicted of serious crimes, or a variant of a finger infection.
From Old French 'felon' (cruel, wicked), derived from Latin 'fell-' (to strike, kill). The criminal sense dominated by the 13th century, though a medical meaning (infected finger) also developed.
Medieval courts called any serious criminal a 'felon' regardless of the crime—but the real punishment was 'benefit of clergy,' a loophole so common it became the basis of all modern appeals law.
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