fellow

[ fel-oh ]
See synonyms for: fellowfellows on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a man or boy: a fine old fellow; a nice little fellow.

  2. Informal. beau; suitor: Mary had her fellow over to meet her folks.

  1. Informal. person; one: They don't treat a fellow very well here.

  2. a person of small worth or no esteem.

  3. a companion; comrade; associate: They have been fellows since childhood.

  4. a person belonging to the same rank or class; equal; peer: The doctor conferred with his fellows.

  5. one of a pair; mate; match: a shoe without its fellow.

  6. Education.

    • a graduate student of a university or college to whom an allowance is granted for special study.

    • British. an incorporated member of a college, entitled to certain privileges.

    • a member of the corporation or board of trustees of certain universities or colleges.

  7. a member of any of certain learned societies: a fellow of the British Academy.

  8. Obsolete. a partner.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make or represent as equal with another.

  2. Archaic. to produce a fellow to; match.

adjective
  1. belonging to the same class or group; united by the same occupation, interests, etc.; being in the same condition: fellow students; fellow sufferers.

Origin of fellow

1
before 1050; Middle English felowe, felawe,late Old English fēolaga<Old Norse fēlagi partner in a joint undertaking, equivalent to money, property (cognate with Old English feoh,German Vieh) + -lagi bedfellow, comrade; akin to lair1, lie2

Words Nearby fellow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fellow in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fellow (1 of 2)

fellow

/ (ˈfɛləʊ) /


noun
  1. a man or boy

  2. an informal word for boyfriend

  1. informal one or oneself: a fellow has to eat

  2. a person considered to be of little importance or worth

    • (often plural) a companion; comrade; associate

    • (as modifier): fellow travellers

  3. (at Oxford and Cambridge universities) a member of the governing body of a college, who is usually a member of the teaching staff

  4. a member of the governing body or established teaching staff at any of various universities or colleges

  5. a postgraduate student employed, esp for a fixed period, to undertake research and, often, to do some teaching

    • a person in the same group, class, or condition: the surgeon asked his fellows

    • (as modifier): fellow students; a fellow sufferer

  6. one of a pair; counterpart; mate: looking for the glove's fellow

Origin of fellow

1
Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse fēlagi, one who lays down money, from money + lag a laying down

British Dictionary definitions for Fellow (2 of 2)

Fellow

/ (ˈfɛləʊ) /


noun
  1. a member of any of various learned societies: Fellow of the British Academy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with fellow

fellow

see regular guy (fellow); strange bedfellows.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.