Wiktionary

fall

See also:Fall,fäll,andfæll

English

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Etymology 1

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Verb fromMiddle Englishfallen,fromOld Englishfeallan(“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”),fromProto-West Germanic*fallan(“to fall”),fromProto-Germanic*fallaną(“to fall”).

Cognate withWest Frisianfalle(“to fall”),Low Germanfallen(“to fall”),Dutchvallen(“to fall”),Germanfallen(“to fall”),Danishfalde(“to fall”),Norwegian Bokmålfalle(“to fall”),Norwegian Nynorskfalla(“to fall”),Icelandicfalla(“to fall”),Lithuanianpùlti(“to attack, rush”).

Noun fromMiddle Englishfal,fall,falle,fromOld Englishfeall,ġefeall(“a falling, fall”)andOld Englishfealle(“trap, snare”),fromProto-Germanic*fallą,*fallaz(“a fall, trap”).Cognate withDutchval,GermanFall(“fall”)andGermanFalle(“trap, snare”),Danishfald,Swedishfall,Icelandicfall.

Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s inEnglandas a shortening offall of the leaf(1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along withautumn,it mostly replaced the older nameharvestas that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Comparespring,which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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fall(third-person singular simple presentfalls,present participlefalling,simple pastfell,past participlefallen)

A sign warning about the danger offallingrocks.
  1. (heading,intransitive)To be moved downwards.
    1. To move to a lower position under the effect ofgravity.
      Thrown from a cliff, the stonefell100 feet before hitting the ground.
    2. To come down, todropordescend.
      The rainfellat dawn.
    3. To come as if by dropping down.
      • 1898,William Le Queux,Whoso Findeth a Wife,page256:
        Once or twice a noisefellupon his quick ear, and we halted, he standing revolver in hand in an attitude of defense. Each time, however, we ascertained that we had no occasion for alarm, the noise being made by some animal or bird...
      • 1904,Bram Stoker,The Jewel of Seven Stars,page248:
        And then a sudden calmfellon us like a cloud of fear. There! on the table, lay the Jewel of Seven Stars, shining and sparkling with lurid light, as though each of the seven points of each of the seven stars gleamed through blood!
      • 1971,Henry Raup Wagner,Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca:
        Shortly afterwards a breeze came up from the N[…]dark clouds closing in over everything. At 3 in the afternoon the breeze came up from the S with a thick drizzle. Thus nightfell,and thus we passed the rest of it.
      • 1981,Dan Kirby,Schreiber's Choice,Ace Books,→ISBN:
        The horse wrangler, a tall, bronzed-face man, waved to the wagon driver. The driver laughed.[…]The canvas cover rolled up suddenly and a terrible noisefellover the desert.
    4. To come to the grounddeliberately,toprostrateoneself.
      Hefellto the floor and begged for mercy.
    5. To be brought to the ground.
  2. (transitive)To move downwards.
    1. (obsolete)To let fall; to drop.
    2. (obsolete)To sink; to depress.
      tofallthe voice
    3. (UK,US,dialect,archaic)Tofell;to cut down.
      tofalla tree
  3. (intransitive)To change, often negatively.
    1. (copulative,in idiomatic expressions)Tobecome.
      She hasfallenill.
      The childrenfellasleepin the back of the car.
      When did you firstfallin love?
      fallsilent,fallsick,fallpregnant,fallvictimto something
      • 1855December –1857June, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, inLittle Dorrit,London:Bradbury and Evans,[…],published1857,→OCLC,book the first (Poverty),page27:
        At length they stood at the corner from which they had begun, and it hadfallenquite dark, and they were no wiser.
      • 1971,Henry Raup Wagner,Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca:
        Shortly afterwards a breeze came up from the N and then itfellcalm,[…]
    2. (intransitive)Tocollapse;to beoverthrownordefeated.
      Romefellto the Goths in 410 AD.
    3. (intransitive,formal,euphemistic)Todie,especially inbattleor bydisease.
      This is a monument to all those whofellin the First World War.
    4. (intransitive)To become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc.).
      The candidate's poll ratingsfellabruptly after the banking scandal.
      • 1612,John Davies,Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued:
        The greatness of these Irish lords suddenlyfelland vanished.
      • 1835,SirJohn Ross,SirJames Clark Ross,Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage…, Vol.1,pages284–5:
        Towards the following morning, the thermometerfellto 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
      • 2013July 20, “Old soldiers?”,inThe Economist,volume408,number8845:
        Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates havefallenover the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.
  5. Tooccur(on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); tohappen.
    Thanksgiving alwaysfallson a Thursday.
    Last year, Commencementfellon June 3.
    • 1978,Dwight David Eisenhower, Mamie Doud Eisenhower,Letters to Mamie,Doubleday Books:
      (Thus D-dayfellon June 6 rather than the planned June 5.)
  6. (intransitive)To beallottedto; toarrivethroughchance,fate,orinheritance.
    And so itfallsto me to make this important decision.
    The estatefellto his brother.
    The kingdomfellinto the hands of his rivals.
  7. (transitive,obsolete)To diminish; to lessen or lower.
    • 1691,[John Locke],Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money.[…],London:[…]Awnshamand John Churchill,[…],published1692,→OCLC:
      Upon lessening interest to four per cent, youfallthe price of your native commodities.
  8. (transitive,obsolete)To bring forth.
    tofalllambs
  9. (intransitive,obsolete)To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.
    • 1672,The Office of the Good House-wife,page27:
      As for Calves newlyfallen,you must leave them with good Litter of fresh Straw until such qime as the Cows have licked and cleansed them,
    • 1805,John Lawrence,A general treatise on cattle, the ox, the sheep, and the swine, etc,page100:
      My intended remarks are on the cords, and wiping dry the newlyfallencalf
    • 1869,William Youatt,Sheep: Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases,page382:
      another writer, adopting a similar opinion, affirms that it results from the lambs not being docked at a sufficiently early period; for "sometimes the ewe, in the ardour of her maternal affection, chews away the tail from her newly-fallenlamb, and none of these are afterwards affectd by the sturdy;
    • 1892,United States. Bureau of Animal Industry,Special Report on the History and Present Condition of the Sheep Industry of the United States,page422:
      The newlyfallenlambs are a peculiar sight, as they invariably come spotted or black ; but while the head and legs retain their inky black color, the wool grows out white as with the other Down breeds.
  10. (intransitive)To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.
  11. (intransitive)To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.
    tofallinto error;  tofallinto difficulties
  12. (intransitive)To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.
  13. (intransitive)To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).
    • 1611,The Holy Bible,[…](King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker,[…],→OCLC,Ruth3:18:
      Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter willfall.
    • c.1596–1598(date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene ii]:
      […]An the worstfallthat everfell,I hope I shall make shift to go without him.
    • 1701,[Jonathan Swift], “Chapter I”, inA Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome, with the Consequences They Had upon Both Those States,London:[…]John Nutt[…],→OCLC,page 9:
      […]Polybiustells us, the beſt Government is that which conſiſts of three Forms,Regno,Optimatium,&Populi imperio.Which may be fairly Tranſlated, theKings,LordsandCommons.[…]theRomansfellupon this Model purely by chance, (which I take to have been Nature and common Reaſon) but theSpartansby Thought and Deſign.
    • 1879,Herbert Spencer,Principles of SociologyVolume II – Part IV:Ceremonial Institutions
      Primitive men[…]do not make laws, theyfallinto customs.
  14. (intransitive)To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.
    After arguing, theyfellto blows.
  15. (intransitive)To be dropped or uttered carelessly.
    An unguarded expressionfellfrom his lips.
  16. (intransitive,of a fabric)Tohangdown(under the influence of gravity).
    An Empire-style dress has a high waistline – directly under the bust – from which the dressfallsall the way to a hem as low as the floor.
  17. (intransitive,slang,African-American Vernacular)To visit; to go to a place.
    We'llfallover to the club tonight.
Quotations
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Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Coordinate terms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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fall(countableanduncountable,pluralfalls)

Fall(season) in the United States
  1. The act of moving to alowerposition under the effect of gravity.
  2. A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.
    • 1908,W[illiam]B[lair]M[orton]Ferguson, chapter I, inZollenstein,New York, N.Y.:D. Appleton & Company,→OCLC:
      “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewellfallout of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.
  4. (chieflyCanada,US,archaic in Britain)The time of the year when theleavestypically fall from the trees;autumn;the season of the year between the autumnalequinoxand the wintersolstice.[from 16th c.]
    • 1816,John Pickering,A Vocabulary, or Collection of Words Which Have Been Supposed to Be Peculiar to the United States of America:
      A friend has pointed out to me the following remark on this word: "In North America the season in which this [the fall of the leaf] takes place, derives its name from that circumstance, and instead of autumn is universally called thefall."[brackets in original]
  5. Alossofgreatnessorstatus.
    thefallof Rome
  6. That which falls or cascades.
    • 2010,Winter Pennington,Witch Wolf:
      Afallof hair tumbled down one side of her body like a veil.
  7. (sports)A crucial event or circumstance.
    1. (cricket,of awicket)The action of abatsmanbeingout.
    2. (curling)A defect in the ice which causesstonesthrown into an area todriftin a given direction.
    3. (wrestling)An instance of a wrestler beingpinnedto themat.
  8. Ahairpiecefor women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.
    • 2004,Zoe Diana Draelos,Hair Care: An Illustrated Dermatologic Handbook,→ISBN,page202:
      Female patients with localized hair loss on the top of scalp could select afallor a demiwig to camouflage crown and anterior scalp loss.
  9. (informal,US)Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.
    He set up his rival to take thefall.
  10. (nautical)The part of the rope of atackleto which thepoweris applied inhoisting(usu. plural).
    • 1919,Joseph Conrad,Typhoon:
      "[...] with one overhauled fall flying and an iron-bound block capering in the air."
    Have the goodness to secure thefallsof the mizzen halyards.
  11. An oldScotsunit of measureequal to sixells.
  12. A short, flexible piece ofleatherforming part of abullwhip,placed between thethongand thecracker.
    • 1945,Tom Ronan,Strangers on the Ophir,Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page113:
      Brooks fitted a newfallto his whip.
  13. Thelid,on apiano,that covers thekeyboard.
Usage notes
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  • The phrasehave a fall,as opposed tofall overorfall down,is typically reserved for older people for whom a fall is more likely to be a medical emergency. However, this phrase can be considered patronizing by those to whom it is applied.[1][2]
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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  • (antonym(s) of“act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity”):ascent,rise
  • (antonym(s) of“reduction”):increase,rise
  • (antonym(s) of“loss of greatness or status”):ascent,rise
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Seasonsin English ·seasons(layout·text)·category
spring summer autumn,fall winter

Etymology 2

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Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation ofwhale.

Interjection

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fall

  1. (nautical)The cry given when awhaleissighted,orharpooned.

Noun

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fall(pluralfalls)

  1. (nautical)Thechasingof ahuntedwhale.
Derived terms
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References

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  1. ^Williams, Zoe (2022 June 14) “The young fall over, older people ‘have a fall’ – and my stepmother is none too happy about it”,inThe Guardian
  2. ^Harayada, Janice (2023 November 12) “Are We Talking About Falls The Wrong Way?”,inCrow's Feet

Albanian

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Etymology

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FromTurkishfal,fromArabicفَأْل(faʔl,“omen”).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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fallm(pluralfalle,definitefalli,definite pluralfallet)

  1. fortune-telling

Declension

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Declension offall
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative fall falli falle fallet
accusative fallin
dative falli fallit falleve falleve
ablative fallesh

Derived terms

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Terms derived from the noun "fall"

References

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  1. ^Topalli,K.(2017) “fall”,inFjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe,Durrës, Albania: Jozef, pages464-465

Breton

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Adjective

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fall

  1. bad

Catalan

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Etymology

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Deverbalfromfallir.

Noun

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fallm(pluralfalls)

  1. cliff
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Further reading

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Faroese

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Etymology

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FromOld Norsefall,fromfalla(“to fall”).The grammatical sense is a calque of Latincasus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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falln(genitive singularfals,pluralføll)

  1. fall,drop
  2. case(linguistics)

Declension

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n10 Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative fall fallið føll føllini
Accusative fall fallið føll føllini
Dative falli fallinum føllum føllunum
Genitive fals falsins falla fallanna

German

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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fall

  1. singularimperativeoffallen
  2. (colloquial)first-personsingularpresentoffallen

Icelandic

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IcelandicWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipediais

Etymology

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FromOld Norsefall,fromfalla(“to fall”).The grammatical sense is a calque of Latincasus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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falln(genitive singularfalls,nominative pluralföll)

  1. fall,drop
  2. (grammar)case
  3. (computing,programming)function;(subprogram, usually with formal parameters, returning a data value when called)
  4. indefiniteaccusativesingularoffall

Declension

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Declension offall
n-s singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative fall fallið föll föllin
accusative fall fallið föll föllin
dative falli fallinu föllum föllunum
genitive falls fallsins falla fallanna

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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See also

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Noun

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falln(definite singularfallet,indefinite pluralfall,definite pluralfallaorfallene)

  1. afall
  2. case
    ifall―in case
    i allefall―in any case

Derived terms

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Verb

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fall

  1. imperativeoffalle

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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falln(definite singularfallet,indefinite pluralfall,definite pluralfalla)

  1. afall
  2. case

Derived terms

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Verb

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fall

  1. pasttenseoffalle
  2. imperativeoffalle

References

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Old Irish

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Alternative forms

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  • faill(dative for nominative)

Etymology

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FromProto-Celtic*walsā.Cognate toWelshgwallandBretongwall.[1]

Noun

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fallf(genitivefaille,nominative pluralfalla)

  1. neglect

Inflection

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Feminine ā-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative fallL faillL fallaH
Vocative fallL faillL fallaH
Accusative faillN faillL fallaH
Genitive failleH fallL fallN
Dative faillL fallaib fallaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H= triggers aspiration
  • L= triggers lenition
  • N= triggers nasalization

Descendants

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  • Middle Irish:faill

Mutation

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Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
fall ḟall fall
pronounced with/β(ʲ)-/
Note:Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

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  1. ^Stifter, David (2023) “The rise of gemination in Celtic”, inOpen Research Europe‎[1],volume 3, number24,→DOI

Further reading

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Swedish

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Etymology

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FromOld Norsefall,fromfalla(“to fall”).The grammatical sense is a calque of Latincasus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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falln

  1. afall(the act of falling)
  2. a fall, loss of greatness or wealth, abankruptcy
    Romarriketsuppgångochfall―the rise andfallof the Roman empire
  3. aslope,awaterfall,the height of a slope or waterfall
    falletär omgivet av skog―the fall is surrounded by forest
    falletär sjutton meter―the water falls seventeen metres; the decline is seventeen metres
  4. a (legal)case
    i allafall―anyhow (in all cases)
    i annatfall―otherwise (in another case)
    i såfall―if so (in such a case)
    i vilketfallsom helst―in any case
    i vartfall―in any case

Declension

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Declension offall
nominative genitive
singular indefinite fall falls
definite fallet fallets
plural indefinite fall falls
definite fallen fallens
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Verb

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fall

  1. imperativeoffalla

References

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