felt
UK[fɛlt]US[fɛlt]
n
A type of thick, soft cloth made by pressing and matting fibres together.
v
Past tense and past participle of 'feel'.
Etymology
The noun 'felt' and the verb 'felt' are etymological doublets, converging in spelling from distinct origins. The noun entered English from an unattested West Germanic root, likely related to Old High German 'filz', describing the matted fabric. Its ultimate origin may be Proto-Indo-European, with connotations of beating or pressing. The verb form is the irregular past tense of 'feel', descending from Old English 'fēlan', itself from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to touch or perceive". The identical spelling of these two words is a coincidence of linguistic evolution, where a material created by pressing fibres and a sensory experience became homographs in modern English.
Analysis
The word 'felt' is a simplex form. As a noun, it is a loanword from an unattested West Germanic source. As a verb, it is the irregular past tense and participle form of the verb 'feel', which originates from the Old English 'fēlan', meaning "to touch or perceive".
Examples
She made a warm hat out of wool felt.
He felt a sudden drop in temperature.
The ancient nomads used felt for their tents and clothing.