An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/feil

by Friedrich Kluge

feil, adjective, ‘for sale, venal,’ from Middle High German veile, veil, Old High German feili, with the curious variant fâli, adjective, ‘purchaseable’; akin to the equivalent Old Icelandic falr, with an abnormal vowel. Teutonic faili- has according to Old High German fâli, Old Icelandic falr, an inserted vowel in the accented syllable (compare feige); hence it corresponds to Aryan pêli-, and is connected with Greek πωλέομας, ‘to sell,’ and more remotely with the Old Indian root pan for paln-, ‘to purchase, buy, exchange.’ —