false

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɔːls/, /fɒls/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fals, faus,^[2] partly inherited from Old English fals (“counterfeit, not genuine; fraud”),^[3][4][5] an early, rare borrowing borrowed from Latin falsus,^[3][4] and reinforced in Middle English by fals (“false, fake; incorrect; treacherous”) (modern French faux).^[6][3][4] Latin falsus “deceptive, feigned; mistaken” is the past participle of fallere (“to deceive, disappoint”),^[6][3] of uncertain origin;^[6] Barnhart compares Greek phêlos “deceitful” and Sanskrit hválati “he goes astray”.^[3] The continental Germanic languages borrowed it in an altered form: German falsch, Dutch vals, Danish falsk.^[6][3] It is related to fail, fault and default.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English fals, counterfeit, about 1000,^[3] as in false ġewihta “false weights” and falspening “counterfeit penny”;^[4] late Old English, “intentionally untrue, lying”, and of religion, “not of the true faith”, in Etymonline.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From about 1200 it meant “deceitful, disloyal, treacherous; not genuine”,^[6] and by the early 14th century also “contrary to fact or reason, erroneous”;^[6] the OED has the latter, of opinions and doctrines, from about 1200.^[8] English alone among the Germanic languages made the active sense “deceitful”, secondary in Latin, predominant.^[6] To bear false witness is from the mid-13th century,^[6] false prophet from the late 13th century,^[6] false alarm from the 1570s,^[6] and false step (1700) translates French faux pas.^[6] The sporting false start is by 1850.^[6] A false dawn, a light seen about an hour before sunrise in Eastern countries, translates an Arabic phrase, from the mid-19th century.^[7] Falsehood is from about 1300.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – counterfeit.^[3]
• c. 1200 – treacherous; untrue.^[6][8]
• mid-13th century – bear false witness.^[6]
• c. 1300 – falsehood.^[3]
• 1570s – false alarm.^[6]
• 1850 – false start.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Contrary to fact or truth; untrue.
2. Deliberately untrue; lying.
3. Arising from mistaken ideas: false hopes.
4. Meant to deceive: a false bottom.
5. Not keeping faith; treacherous.
6. Not genuine or real; artificial: false teeth.
7. In music, of incorrect pitch.

Adverb

1. In a treacherous or faithless way: played her false.

Word family

• falsely
• falseness
• false-hearted
• falsehood
• falsework
• falsie
• falsify
• falsity

Related words

• fail
• fault
• default
• faux

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press