Felt
/fɛlt/noun
Past tense and past participle of feel; also a thick matted fabric made from compressed fibers.
Did you know?The fabric sense of felt comes from Old English and Old Norse words tied to “beating” or “fulling” cloth, so the material’s name is literally connected to the violent process that made it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhel-
“to swell, blow, or thrive; source of a wide family of words about fullness and growth”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*fullijaną
“to make full; to full cloth by pressing and beating”
Old English
OE
felt
“felted cloth, a matted textile”
Old English
OE
fēlan
“to feel, perceive by touch or inward sensation”
Middle English
ME
felten
“to make into felt; later also the past tense of feel”
Modern English
English
felt
“past tense/past participle of feel; also a felt textile”