Felon, Fel

n. A deceitful, wicked person. Now commonly used to describe lawlessness, it was common in 14th century France to have this shouted at you, immediately before someone threw a jar at your head for “stepping out” on the missus.

Those of you who have read older books may recall having seen a phrase along the lines of “and this dread dragon” or “this fel beast”. And now you know the origin of “fel” and all the references to “fel” “fell” and “foul” that have been made in all your medieval fictions.

Example: “You bankers and hedge fund managers are nothing but felons.”

That was intended to be amusing.