windfall

Etymology

It is a compound from English wind + fall.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Middle English Dictionary and the Shorter Oxford compare, or see an influence from, Middle High German wintval,^[4][3] now German Windfall; the OED also compares Dutch windval (1517) and Middle Dutch windvallen (“wind-fallen”), all used of fruit or trees.^[2] English already had the adjectives wind-felled and wind-fallen.^[2][5] For the figurative sense the OED compares the isolated phrase Anglo-Norman par cheanse de vent (“by good fortune”) (1340).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Trees or branches blown down by the wind: 1434, wyndfallwode in the account rolls of Witham and Cressing in Essex.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to the mid-15th century,^[5] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to the 15th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline explains that wood or fruit brought down by the wind fell by natural means and so was free to anyone, which led to the sense of an unexpected gain.^[5] Hendrickson says that a medieval law forbade commoners to cut trees but let them keep any trees or branches the wind blew down.^[8] The figurative sense appears in 1542, in Nicholas Udall's translation of Erasmus's Apophthegmes, and the sense of fallen fruit in 1591.^[2][5] Johnson (1755) defined it only as fruit blown from the tree, quoting Evelyn's Kalendar, and in 1773 added "An unexpected legacy".^[9] The Shorter Oxford notes the sense of a legacy, and in American use a heap of trees blown down by a tornado.^[3] In the 19th century it was used as an adjective for something unexpected (1845), and since 1897 in finance for an unusually large profit caused by unforeseen events,^[2] hence the windfall tax levied on such profits.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1434 – a tree or branch blown down by the wind; a tract of such trees.^[2][4]
• 1542 – an unexpected benefit or gain.^[2][5]
• 1591 – a fruit that has fallen from a tree.^[2]
• 1845 – adjective, chance, unexpected.^[2]
• 1897 – (finance) of a profit, unexpectedly large.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An unexpected gain or piece of good fortune, especially a sudden sum of money: The tax refund was a welcome windfall.^[7][3][2]
2. A fruit, especially an apple, blown down from a tree.^[7][3][2][9]
3. A tree or branch blown down by the wind, or an area where the trees have been blown down.^[7][3][2]

Adjective

1. Of a profit or gain, unexpectedly large through unforeseen circumstances, as in windfall tax.^[2][3]

Related words

• wind
• fall

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.