n. [this word and the following are of Scandin. origin, and found neither in early A. S. nor South-Teut. dialects; the Germans use genosse and genossenschaft; the E. Engl. felaw (mod. fellow) is a northern word]

I. prop. a laying one’s fee together, i. e. fellowship, partnership, Grág. i. 330, ii. 72, 73 (passim); eiga félag saman, Fbr. 102; nú leggja menn félag sitt saman, ok verja ór einum sjóð, Jb. 406; skipta til félags, to share in partnership, Sks. 32; eiga félag við e-n, to be in partnership with one, Eg. 76; leggja félag við e-n, to enter into partnership with one, Fms. iv. 124; hafa félag við e-n, id., 296: Hallr fór milli landa, ok hafði félag Ólafs ens Helga konungs, Hall traded in divers countries, and was in partnership with king Olave, Ó. H. (pref.), Fb. iii. 239; leggja til félags, to contribute to a common fund, Fms. vi. 183, viii. 20: in the law even matrimony is a félag or partnership (between man and wife),—in respect to the common fund of mundr and heiman-fylgja, vide the Grág.—In COMPDS, denoting common: félags-bú, n. household in common, Sturl. i. 180; félags-fé, n. a common fund, Landn. 33; félags-görð, f. entrance in partnership, Grág. i. 331, Sks. 33, 632: a contract, nema annan veg hafi mælt verít í f. þeirra, Grág. i. 331; félags-hross, n. a horse owned in partnership with others, Grág. i. 436; félags-lagning, f. a ‘laying’ of, or entering into, partnership, Grág. i. 331; félags-maðr, m. a partner, Hkr. ii. 157, Sks. 32; félags-vætti, n. a witness in matters of félag, Grág. i. 330, v. l.

II. a society, association; mann-félag, an association of men; mannlegt félag, etc.; vísinda-f., etc., literary society, is a modern turn of the word, and scarcely occurs earlier than the 17th or 18th century. It is now used in a great many compds: the passage in Sd. ch. 5, p. 123, where it means agreement, is a sure proof that these chapters are spurious.