Fealwian

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To grow pale, dull, or yellowish in colour, as plants or skin do when they lose their vigour
2. To become faded or washed-out in hue, taking on a pallid, yellowish-brown tint
3. To lose colour and turn sallow or fallow, as grass or a person's complexion might in sickness

Etymology: Fealwian is an Old English verb meaning "to become pale, to fade" or "to grow dull in colour." It is built on the adjective "fealu," meaning pale yellowish or fallow, the same root that gave English "fallow" in the sense of ploughed-but-unsown land, which was once a pale brown or yellow-grey. The word shows up in Old English texts in this faded, wan-coloured sense rather than in any moral or emotional sense. Its modern descendant is "fallow," not "fealwian" itself, which fell out of use after the Old English period. Because the verb is attested only in Old English, its exact later history is not something the surviving record can show.