fjöl

Fjöl is a historical stem found in Icelandic and Old Norse that denotes quantity, roughly meaning "many" or "a multitude." In lexical practice it primarily functions as a root in compounds and derived nouns rather than as an independent modern word. The sense of plurality and accumulation is central to its usage.

In modern Icelandic the root appears in several related words. Examples include fjöldi, meaning "a number" or "the multitude," fjöldun, meaning "multiplication" or "increase in number," and fjölga, meaning "to increase or multiply." Adjectives such as fjölmennur, meaning "crowded" or "populous," and nouns like fjölgun, meaning "increase" or "growth," also derive from the same root. These forms show how fjöl contributes to expressions of quantity and change in number.

Etymology and cognates: fjöl is a Germanic root that appears across North Germanic languages, with attested descendants in Icelandic and Old Norse texts. The usage as a quantity-related morpheme has persisted from earlier literary stages into modern Icelandic, where it remains a productive source for words describing numbers, crowds, and growth.

Overall, fjöl serves as a key quantitative root in Icelandic and related Norse languages, shaping a family of words that express multiplicity, amount, and increase. Related terms include fjöldi, fjöldun, fjölga, fjölmennur, and fjölgun.