Etymologically
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false

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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

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