fellow: [11] Etymologically, a fellow is somebody who ‘lays money’. The word originated as an Old Norse compound félagi, formed from fé ‘money’ and *lag-, a verbal base denoting ‘lay’. Someone who puts down money with someone else in a joint venture is his or her associate: hence a fellow is a ‘companion’ or ‘partner’. When English adopted the Old Norse word in the 11th century, it translated its first element into Old English fēoh ‘property’, giving late Old English féolaga and eventually modern English fellow. (Both Old English fēoh and Old Norse fé originally meant ‘cattle’, and are probably related to modern English fee.) => fee, lay[fellow etymology, fellow origin, 英语词源]