fall English · revision 3463

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 900 (Alfred)|origins=gem-pro *fallaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /fɔːl/, US /fɔːl/, /fɑːl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|fallen]], [[inh|ang|feallan|t=to drop from a height; to fail, decay, die]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) past tense feoll,^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*fallaną]].^(Etymonline) Its cognates include [[ofs|falla]], [[osx|fallan]], [[nl|vallen]], [[de|fallen]] and [[non|falla]]; it is absent in Gothic.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline traces it to [[ine-pro|*pol-|t=to fall]],^(Etymonline) and Merriam-Webster and Klein compare Lithuanian [[m|lt|pulti|t=to fall]] and Armenian pʻul “downfall”.^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) The noun is partly from the verb and partly from [[non|fall|t=fall, death in battle, sin, downfall]].^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) The causative of the same verb is [[fell]].^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To drop from a height: Old English ''feallan'', before 900, in King Alfred's works,^(Barnhart 1988) or about 890.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that in Old English ''fall'' was used literally and ''befall'' figuratively.^(Cresswell 2021) “To come suddenly to the ground” is late Old English.^(Etymonline) The noun, a falling, is from about 1200,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the fall from moral elevation, especially of Adam and Eve, from the early 13th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Of empires and governments it is from about 1200, of the face from the late 14th century, and “to die in battle”, of prices, and of sloping land, from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) The season of autumn, ''fall'', short for ''fall of the leaf'' (1540s), is by the 1660s; now American, it was formerly common in England, where the older name was ''harvest''.^(Etymonline) A waterfall is from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) ''Fall in love'' is from the 1520s, ''fall out'', “to quarrel”, from the 1560s, ''fall through'' from 1781 and ''fall for'' from 1903.^(Etymonline) ''Fall guy'' is by 1906.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 900 – Old English ''feallan''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – noun, a falling; of empires.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 13th century – the Fall of man.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1520s – ''fall in love''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – ''fall of the leaf''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – to die in battle; a waterfall.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1660s – ''fall'', autumn.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1781 – ''fall through''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1903 – ''fall for''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1906 – ''fall guy''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To drop or come down freely by the force of [[gravity]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To drop to a lower or less upright position; to collapse.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To be wounded or killed in battle; to be overthrown or captured.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To decrease, as in amount or value.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To pass into a state: ''fall asleep'', ''fall ill''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To occur at a specified time or place: ''Easter falls early''.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of falling; a drop or decline.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(chiefly US)'' [[autumn|alt=Autumn]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(often falls)'' A [[waterfall]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A loss of power or innocence, and ''the Fall'', the disobedience of Adam and Eve.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # An amount that has fallen: ''a fall of snow''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fell]]

+ * [[befall]]

+ * [[pitfall]]

+ * [[waterfall]]

+ * [[downfall]]

+ * [[fallen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Old English also had a noun ''fealle'', “a trap”, from the verb, which survives in dialect and probably in [[pitfall]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}