English
fellow
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈfɛləʊ/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈfɛloʊ/
  • (informal, nonstandard) IPA: /ˈfɛlə/
Noun

fellow (plural fellows)

  1. (obsolete) A colleague or partner.
  2. (archaic) A companion; a comrade.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
      Cruel his eye, but cast
      Signs of remorse and passion to behold
      The fellows of his crime
    • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene ii], page 90 ↗, column 1:
      [W]e are Fellowes ſtill, / Seruing alike in ſorrow: [...]
    • 1788, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume IV
      That enormous engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal magnitude.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0147 ↗:
      Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
  3. A man without good breeding or worth; an ignoble or mean man.
    • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify ), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019 ↗:
  4. An equal in power, rank, character, etc.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:
      It is impossible that ever Rome
      Should breed thy fellow.
  5. One of a pair, or of two things used together or suited to each other; a mate.
    • When they be but heifers of one year, […] they are let go to the fellow and breed.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene viii]:
      This was my glove; here is the fellow of it.
  6. (attributive) A person with common characteristics, being of the same kind, or in the same group.
    Roger and his fellow workers are to go on strike.
    my fellow Americans
  7. (colloquial) A male person; a man.
    • 1910, Saki, ‘The Strategist’, Reginald in Russia:
      ‘There'll be about ten girls,’ speculated Rollo, as he drove to the function, ‘and I suppose four fellows, unless the Wrotsleys bring their cousin, which Heaven forbid.’
  8. (rare) A person; an individual, male or female.
    • 1860 December – 1861 August​, Charles Dickens, chapter 37, in Great Expectations [...] In Three Volumes, volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, OCLC 3359935 ↗, page 287 ↗:
      She seemed to be a good sort of fellow.
  9. (UK slang, obsolete) Synonym of schoolmate#English|schoolmate: a student at the same school.
    • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 37:
      Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’
  10. A rank or title in the professional world, usually given as "Fellow".
    1. In the English universities, a scholar who is appointed to a foundation called a fellowship, which gives a title to certain perquisites and privileges.
    2. In an American college or university, a member of the corporation which manages its business interests; also, a graduate appointed to a fellowship, who receives the income of the foundation.
    3. A member of a literary or scientific society
      a Fellow of the Royal Society
    4. The most senior rank or title one can achieve on a technical career in certain companies (though some Fellows also hold business titles such as Vice President or Chief Technology Officer). This is typically found in large corporations in research and development-intensive industries (IBM or Sun Microsystems in information technology, and Boston Scientific in Medical Devices for example). They appoint a small number of senior scientists and engineers as Fellows.
    5. In the US and Canada, a physician who is undergoing a supervised, sub-specialty medical training (fellowship) after completing a specialty training program (residency).
  11. (Aboriginal English) ngd Used as a general intensifier
    • 1991, Jimmy Chi, Bran Nue Dae, in Heiss & Minter, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 137:
      This fella song all about the Aboriginal people, coloured people, black people longa Australia.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

fellow (fellows, present participle fellowing; past and past participle fellowed)

  1. To suit with; to pair with; to match.


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