Etymograph

English

pell

Pell comes from Latin pellis ‘animal skin, pelt’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pel-ni-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-ni-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnis1‘skin’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellis1‘animal skin, pelt’
  4. Englishtodaypell1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pell

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-ni-Wiktionary, English pellreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnisWiktionary, English pell‘skin’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellisWiktionary, English pell‘animal skin, pelt’
  4. EnglishtodaypellWiktionary, English pell

The story

Distantly related to fell and film.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin pellis ‘animal skin, pelt’

pillion, 6 more

Today it means

noun A fur or hide.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pell”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pel-ni- / pell

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