An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Fell
Fell, n., ‘hide, skin, fur,’ from MidHG. vël(ll), OHG. fël(ll), ‘human skin, hide’; comp. Goth. fill, n., in þrûts-fill, ‘leprosy,’ faurafilli, ‘foreskin’; OIc. fjall, ‘skin, hide,’ in compounds, AS. fëll, n., ‘skin, hide,’ E. fell, Du. vel. Common to Teut. orig., but universal in the wider sense of ‘skin,’ both of men and animals. Teut. fella- from pre-Teut. pello- or pelno-; comp. Lat. pellis, Gr. πέλλα, ‘hide, leather,’ ἄπελλος, n., ‘(skinless) unhealed wound,’ ἐρυσίπελας, ‘erysipelas, St. Anthony's fire,’ ἐπίπλοος, ‘caul of the entrails,’ the latter for ἐπίπλοϝος, akin to Lith. plėvė, ‘caul, skin’; also akin to AS. filmen, ‘membrane, foreskin,’ E. film; likewise Gr. πέλμα, ‘sole of the foot or shoe,’ and perhaps πέπλος, ‘garment,’ as a reduplicated form (πέ-πλ-ος, root πελ).