false

See also:FALSEandfalsé

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishfalse,fals,fromOld Englishfals(“false; counterfeit; fraudulent; wrong; mistaken”),fromLatinfalsus(“counterfeit, false; falsehood”),perfect passive participle offallō(“deceive”).Reinforced in Middle English byAnglo-NormanandOld Frenchfals,faus.CompareScotsfals,false,Saterland Frisianfalsk,Germanfalsch,Dutchvals,SwedishandDanishfalsk;all fromLatinfalsus.Displaced nativeMiddle Englishles,lese,fromOld Englishlēas(“false”);Seelease,leasing.Doubletoffaux.

The verb is fromMiddle Englishfalsen,falsien,fromOld Frenchfalser,fromLatinfalsō(“falsify”),itself also fromfalsus;compareFrenchfausser(“to falsify, to distort”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/fɔːls/,/fɒls/

  • Audio(Received Pronunciation,/fɔːls/):

    (file)

• (General American)IPA^(key):/fɔls/
  • (cot–caughtmerger)IPA^(key):/fɑls/

    • Audio(cot–caughtmerger):

      (file)

• (General Australian,New Zealand)IPA^(key):/fɒls/,[fɔɫs],[fɒʊs]
• Rhymes:-ɔːls,-ɒls

Adjective

false(comparativefalser,superlativefalsest)

1. Untrue,notfactual,factuallyincorrect.
   • 1551,James A.H. Murray,editor,A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles: Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society,volume 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published1888,Part 1,page217,column 2:

     Also the rule offalseposition, with dyuers examples not onely vulgar, but some appertaynyng to the rule of Algeber.

2. Based onfactuallyincorrectpremises.

   falselegislation,falsepunishment

3. Spurious,artificial.

   falseteeth

   • 1907August,Robert W[illiam] Chambers,“Silverside”, inThe Younger Set,New York, N.Y.:D. Appleton & Company,→OCLC,page300:

     At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of thatfalsemodesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.

4. (logic)Of a state inBooleanlogicthat indicates a negative result.
5. Utteringfalsehood;dishonestordeceitful.

   afalsewitness

6. Notfaithfulorloyal,as toobligations,allegiance,vows,etc.;untrue;treacherous.

   afalsefriend, lover, or subject; falseto promises

   • 1671,John Milton,“Samson Agonistes,[…].”,inParadise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes,London:[…]J[ohn]M[acock]for John Starkey[…],→OCLC,page52,line25:

     I to my ſelf wasfalſe,e’re thou to me,[…]

   • 1861,E. J. Guerin,Mountain Charley,page 7:

     She had been in Baton Rouge but a little over two weeks, when suddenly his letters ceased. She awaited in anxious suspense a whole week — no letter. Another week dragged heavily, and her anxiety became a terrible fear. Was he sick and unable to write — was he dead — or, still more terrible thought, had he provedfalse?

7. Not wellfounded;notfirmortrustworthy;erroneous.

   afalseconclusion;  afalseconstruction in grammar

   • 1590,Edmund Spenser,“Book I, Canto XI”, inThe Faerie Queene.[…],London:[…][John Wolfe] forWilliam Ponsonbie,→OCLC,stanza 54,page170:

     So downe he fell, as an huge rockie clift, / Whoſefalſefoundacion waues haue waſht away,[…]

8. Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.
9. Used in the vernacular name of a species (or group of species) together with the name of another species to which it is similar in appearance.

   false scorpion(anarachnid)

   false killer whale(a dolphin)

   false powderpost beetles(members ofBostrichidaenot inLyctinae)

10. (music)Out of tune.

Synonyms

• lease
• See alsoThesaurus:false

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of“untrue”):real,true

Derived terms

• bear false witness
• false 9
• false acacia
• false action
• false alarm
• false albacore
• false alder
• false analogy
• false antechinus
• false arrest
• false attack
• false balance
• false banana
• false blue indigo
• false borrowing
• false bottom
• false buttonweed
• false chanterelle
• false cognate
• false colour
• false conception
• false consciousness
• false croup
• false dawn
• false dichotomy
• false dilemma
• false documentary
• false drop
• false easting
• false economy
• false equivalence
• false eyelashes
• false face
• false fire
• false-flag
• false flag
• false flagged
• false flagger
• false-flagger
• false flagging
• false flat
• false flax
• false friend
• false fruit
• false galena
• false gavial
• false gharial
• false grip
• false harmonic
• false-hearted
• false-heartedly
• false-heartedness
• false hellebore
• false hemp
• false hermaphrodite
• false holly
• falsehood
• false imprisonment
• false ironwort
• false keel
• false key
• false light
• false lily of the valley
• false loan
• false loose smut
• false mallow
• false map turtle
• false mastic
• false mayweed
• false measles
• false memory
• false-memory syndrome
• false memory syndrome
• false mermaid
• false modesty
• false monarch
• false morel
• false move
• falsen
• false negative
• falseness
• false nine
• false northing
• false note
• false number 9
• false oxlip
• false pimpernel
• false plane tree
• false plum anemone
• false positive
• false potato beetle
• false pregnancy
• false pretence
• false pretense
• false primary
• false quarter
• false Queen Anne's lace
• false rail
• false relation
• false rhubarb
• false rib
• false saber-toothed cat
• false sabre-toothed cat
• false sandalwood
• false scent
• false sergeant
• false sharing
• false shower
• false signal
• false start
• false step
• false strawberry
• false summit
• false tack
• false teeth
• false trevally
• false truffle
• false vacuum
• false vampire bat
• false venus comb
• false violet
• false violin spider
• false widow
• false witness
• false works
• falsie
• falsifiable
• falsify
• falsity
• feathery false lily of the valley
• partial false friend
• play someone false
• put someone in a false position
• ring false
• sail under false colors
• shrubby false buttonweed
• strike a false note
• true-false
• true or false
• true-or-false

Collocations

nouns

• false alarm
• false name
• false teeth
• false pretenses
• false step
• false position
• false hope
• false witness
• false prophet
• false sense
• false information
• false statement
• false imprisonment
• false impression
• false consciousness
• false start
• false belief
• false idea
• false conclusion

adverbs

• completely false
• entirely false
• utterly false
• patently false
• totally false
• obviously false
• clearly false
• simply false
• absolutely false
• necessarily false

Translations

untrue, not factual, wrong

• Arabic:زَائِف(zāʔif),بَاطِل(bāṭil),كَاذِب(kāḏib)

  Egyptian Arabic:فلصوm(falsu)

• Armenian:կեղծ(hy)(keġc),սխալ(hy)(sxal)
• Assamese:মিছা(misa),ভুৱা(bhua)
• Asturian:falsu
• Basque:faltsu
• Breton:gaou(br)
• Bulgarian:грешен(bg)(grešen)
• Catalan:fals(ca),incorrecte(ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Giả(zh)(jiǎ),Dối trá／Dối trá(zh)(xūwěi),Giả dối／Giả dối(zh)(xūjiǎ)

• Cornish:gaw
• Crimean Tatar:yañlış
• Czech:nepravdivý(cs)m
• Dalmatian:fuals
• Danish:falsk(da)
• Dutch:onwaar(nl),vals(nl),fout(nl),onjuist(nl)
• Esperanto:malvera,nevera
• Finnish:valheellinen(fi),epätosi(fi),väärä(fi),(prefix)vale-
• French:faux(fr),incorrect(fr)
• Galician:falso(gl)
• Georgian:ცრუ(cru),ტყუილი(ka)(ṭq̇uili)
• German:falsch(de),unwahr(de)
• Greek:ψευδής(el)(psevdís)

  Ancient:ψευδής(pseudḗs)

• Haitian Creole:fo
• Hebrew:שקריm(shikrí),לא נכוןm(ló nakhón)
• Hindi:झूठा(hi)(jhūṭhā),खोटा(hi)(khoṭā)
• Hungarian:hamis(hu)
• Icelandic:rangur(is),ósannur(is)
• Ido:falsa(io)
• Indonesian:salah(id)
• Ingrian:perätöin
• Interlingua:false
• Irish:bréagach,bréige
• Italian:falso(it),errato(it),bugiardo(it)m
• Japanese:Ngụy(ja)(にせ, nise),Dối trá(ja)(きょぎ, kyogi)
• Korean:거짓(ko)(geojit)
• Kyrgyz:жаңылыш(ky)(jaŋılış),ката(ky)(kata),жасалма(ky)(jasalma),арамза(ky)(aramza)
• Latin:falsus,mendāx(la)
• Latvian:nepareizs,kļūdains
• Lithuanian:klaidingas(lt),neteisingas(lt)
• Malay:salah(ms)
• Maori:patē,parau,horihori,meho,tipatipa,teka,hāwatewate,kēā
• Norman:faux
• Occitan:fals(oc)
• Old English:lēas
• Persian:غلط(phát)(ğalat)
• Plautdietsch:faulsch
• Polish:fałszywy(pl),nieprawdziwy(pl),błędny(pl)
• Portuguese:falso(pt),errado(pt)
• Romanian:fals(ro),neadevăr(ro)
• Russian:фальши́вый(ru)(falʹšívyj),ло́жный(ru)(lóžnyj),непра́вильный(ru)(neprávilʹnyj)
• Sanskrit:असत्(sa)(ásat),असत्य(sa)(asatya),अशुद्ध(sa)(aśuddha)

  Vedic:आसत्(ā́sat)

• Sardinian:fàlsu
• Scottish Gaelic:breugach,fuadain
• Spanish:falso(es),sacha(es)morf(Ecuador),ful(es)morf
• Swedish:falsk(sv),osann(sv)
• Sylheti:ꠝꠤꠍꠣ(misá)
• Thai:please add this translation if you can
• Turkish:yanlış(tr),yalan(tr)
• Ukrainian:неправди́вий(nepravdývyj),хи́бнийm(xýbnyj)
• Urdu:جھوٹھا(jhūṭhā),غلط(ġalat),کھوٹا(khōṭā)
• Vietnamese:sai(vi)
• Volapük:dobik(vo),neveratik(vo)
• Welsh:anwir,anghywir(cy),ffug(cy),gau(cy)
• Yiddish:פֿאַלש(falsh)

based on factually incorrect premises

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Finnish:perusteeton(fi),väärä(fi)
• Ido:falsa(io)
• Maori:hewa
• Plautdietsch:faulsch

spurious, artificial

• Armenian:կեղծ(hy)(keġc)
• Asturian:falsu
• Bulgarian:изкуствен(bg)(izkustven),фалшив(bg)(falšiv)
• Catalan:fals(ca),postís,artificial(ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Czech:falešný(cs),imitovaný,nepravý,umělý(cs)
• Danish:kunstig(da)
• Dutch:vals(nl),onecht(nl)
• Finnish:keinotekoinen(fi),teko-(fi),keino-(fi),vale-(fi)
• French:faux(fr),artificiel(fr)
• Galician:falso(gl)
• Georgian:ყალბი(q̇albi)
• German:falsch(de),unecht(de)
• Greek:ψευδής(el)(psevdís),πλαστός(el)(plastós),κίβδηλος(el)(kívdilos),νόθος(el)(nóthos)

  Ancient:πλαστός(plastós)

• Hebrew:מזוייףm(mezuyáf),תותב(he)m(totáv)(prosthetic),תותבתf(totévet)(prosthetic)
• Hungarian:hamis(hu),mű-(hu)
• Ido:falsa(io)
• Indonesian:buatan(id)
• Interlingua:false
• Irish:bréag-,bréagach,bréige,falsa
• Italian:posticcio(it),finto(it)
• Latin:fictus
• Latvian:viltots,mākslīgs
• Lithuanian:dirbtinis(lt),netikras
• Malay:palsu(ms)
• Polish:sztuczny(pl)
• Portuguese:falso(pt),artificial(pt)
• Romanian:fals(ro),artificial(ro),contrafăcut(ro)
• Scottish Gaelic:breugach,meallta,mealltach,fuadain
• Spanish:postizo,espurio(es)
• Swedish:konstgjord(sv)
• Thai:please add this translation if you can
• Turkish:yapay(tr),sahte(tr)

state in Boolean logic that indicates a negative result

• Bulgarian:неверен(bg)(neveren)
• Catalan:fals(ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Dutch:onwaar(nl),vals(nl)
• Finnish:epätosi(fi)
• French:faux(fr)
• German:falsch(de)
• Hebrew:שקריm(shikrí)
• Hungarian:hamis(hu)
• Ido:falsa(io)
• Irish:bréagach
• Italian:falso(it)
• Japanese:Ngụy(ja)(ぎ, gi)
• Norman:faux
• Portuguese:falso(pt)
• Romanian:fals(ro)n
• Russian:ложь(ru)f(ložʹ)
• Spanish:falso(es)
• Swedish:falskt(sv)
• Turkish:yanlış(tr)
• Ukrainian:хи́баf(xýba)
• Vietnamese:sai(vi)

uttering falsehood

• Arabic:كَاذِب(kāḏib)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Finnish:epärehellinen(fi)
• Hungarian:hamis(hu)
• Spanish:falaz(es)

not faithful or loyal

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Finnish:petollinen(fi),epälojaali(fi)
• Hungarian:hűtlen(hu),hamis(hu)

not well founded, erroneous

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Finnish:virheellinen(fi),väärä(fi),kelvoton(fi)
• Hungarian:hamis(hu)
• Ido:falsa(io)
• Maori:mākiri

not essential or permanent

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Finnish:vale-(fi),väliaikainen(fi)
• Hungarian:ál-(hu)

music: out of tune

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:please add this translation if you can

• Finnish:epävireinen(fi),falski(fi)
• Hungarian:hamis(hu)
• Swedish:falskt(sv)

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

• Indonesian:^{(pleaseverify)}palsu(id)

Verb

false(third-person singular simple presentfalses,present participlefalsing,simple past and past participlefalsed)

1. (electronics,telecommunications,of a decoder)To incorrectly decodenoiseas if it were a validsignal.
2. (obsolete)Toviolate,tobetray(apromise,anagreement,one’sfaith,etc.).
   • c.1587–1588,[Christopher Marlowe],Tamburlaine the Great.[…]The First Part[…],2nd edition, part 1, London:[…][R. Robinson for]Richard Iones,[…],published1592,→OCLC;reprinted asTamburlaine the Great(A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press,1973,→ISBN,Act II, scene ii:

     And he that could with giftes and promiſes,
     Inueigle him that lead a thouſand horſe,
     And make himfalſehis faith vnto his King,
     Will quickly win ſuch as be like himſelfe.

3. (obsolete)Tocounterfeit,toforge.
4. (obsolete)Tomakefalse, tocorruptfrom somethingtrueorreal.

Adverb

false(comparativemorefalse,superlativemostfalse)

1. In a dishonest and disloyal way; falsely.
   • 1610–1611(date written),William Shakespeare,“The Tempest”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene ii],page17,column 2:

     Sweet Lord, you play mefalſe.

Noun

false(pluralfalses)

1. One of two options on a true-or-false test, that not representing true.

   The student received a failing grade for circling every true andfalseon her quiz.

Anagrams

• A.S.L.E.F.,Leafs,alefs,fasel,feals,fleas,leafs,lefsa

Galician

Verb

false

1. inflection offalsar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈfal.se/
• Rhymes:-alse
• Hyphenation:fàl‧se

Adjective

falsefpl

1. femininepluraloffalso

Latin

Adverb

falsē(comparativefalsius,superlativefalsissimē)

1. falsely,mistakenly

   Synonym:falsō

Noun

false

1. vocativesingularoffalsus

References

• “false”,inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary,Oxford: Clarendon Press
• falsein Charles du Fresne du Cange’sGlossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis(augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• falseinGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français,Hachette.

Portuguese

Verb

false

1. inflection offalsar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative

Spanish

Verb

false

1. inflection offalsar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative