feel

pronunciation

How to pronounce feel in British English: UK [fiːl] word uk audio image

How to pronounce feel in American English: US [fiːl] word us audio image

Noun:

an intuitive awareness
the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
a property perceived by touch
manual-genital stimulation for sexual pleasure
Verb:

undergo an emotional sensation
come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds
perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles
seem with respect to a given sensation given
have a feeling or perception about oneself in reaction to someone's behavior or attitude
undergo passive experience of:"We felt the effects of inflation"
be felt or perceived in a certain way
grope or feel in search of something
examine by touch
examine (a body part) by palpation
find by testing or cautious exploration
produce a certain impression
pass one's hands over the sexual organs of

Word Origin

feel: feel: [OE] Like its West Germanic cousins, German fühlen and Dutch voelen, feel is part of a wider Indo-European word-family covering notions like ‘touching’ and ‘handling’, including Greek palámē and Latin palma ‘palm of the hand’ and Latin palpāre, originally ‘stroke, touch lightly’, later ‘feel’ (source of English palpable and palpitation). Its ultimate ancestor was the Indo-European base *pōl-, *pal-.=> palm, palpable, palpitation

feel (v.): Old English felan "to touch or have a sensory experience of; perceive, sense (something)," in late Old English "have a mental perception," from Proto-Germanic *foljan (cognates: Old Saxon gifolian, Old Frisian fela, Dutch voelen, Old High German vuolen, German fühlen "to feel," Old Norse falma "to grope"), from PIE root *pal- "to touch, feel, shake, strike softly" (cognates: Greek psallein "to pluck (the harp)," Latin palpare "to touch softly, stroke," palpitare "to move quickly"), perhaps ultimately imitative. The meaning in Old English was "to perceive through senses which are not referred to any special organ." Sense of "be conscious of a tactile sensation, sense pain, pleasure, illness, etc.; have an emotional experience or reaction," developed by c. 1200, also "have an opinion or conviction;" that of "to react with sympathy or compassion" is from mid-14c. Meaning "to try by touch" is from early 14c. From late 14c. as "know (something) beforehand, to have foreknowledge of." To feel like "want to" attested from 1829.

feel (n.): early 13c., "sensation, understanding," from feel (v.). Meaning "action of feeling" is from mid-15c. That of "sensation produced (by an object, surface, etc.)" is from 1739. Slang sense of "a sexual grope" is from 1932; from verbal phrase to feel (someone) up (1930).