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Fall

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fall¹

  • /fɔːl/ UK
  • /foːl/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /fɔl/ Scotland
  • /faːl/ Northumbria
  • /fɔl/
  • /fɑl/ cot caught merger
  • /fɒl/ Canada
  • /foːl/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like fool (fool–fall merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːl

Where it comes from

Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to collapse, fall; to destroy”).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots faw (“to fall”), Yola vale, vall, vole (“to fall”), North Frisian faal, fåle (“to fall”), Saterland Frisian faale (“to fall”), West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Bavarian foin (“to fall”), Cimbrian ballan, vallan (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German and Low German fallen (“to fall”), Luxembourgish falen (“to fall”), Yiddish פֿאַלן (faln, “to fall”), Danish falde (“to fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish falla (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla, falle (“to fall”); also Latin aboleō (“to destroy; to die”), Ancient Greek ὄλλῡμι (óllūmi, “to destroy; to lose”), Armenian եղեռն (eġeṙn, “crime; calamity, catastrophe; slaughter”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to fall; to attack, assault”).

Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall (“a falling, fall”) and Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”). Cognate with Yola vall (“fall”), Dutch val (“fall”), German Fall (“fall”), Danish fald (“fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fall (“fall”).

Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.

verb falls · falling · fell · fallen · fal

  1. intransitive To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity. Thrown from a cliff, the stone fell 100 feet before hitting the ground.
  2. intransitive To come down, to drop or descend. The rain fell at dawn.
  3. intransitive To come as if by dropping down. Once or twice a noise fell upon his quick ear, and we halted, he standing revolver in hand in an attitude of defense. Each time, however, we ascertained that we had no occasion for alarm, the noise being made by some animal or bird ...
  4. intransitive To come to the ground deliberately, to prostrate oneself. He fell to the floor and begged for mercy.
  5. intransitive To be brought to the ground.
  6. obsolete, transitive To let fall; to drop. For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds.
  7. obsolete, transitive To sink; to depress. to fall the voice
  8. UK, US, archaic, dialectal, transitive To fell; to cut down. to fall a tree
  9. copulative, intransitive To become (chiefly used with negative states). Near-synonyms: become, get, go, turn, come, grow, wax
  10. intransitive To collapse; to be overthrown or defeated. Rome fell to the Goths in 410 AD.
  11. euphemistic, formal, intransitive To die, especially in battle or by disease. This is a monument to all those who fell in the First World War.
  12. intransitive To become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc.). The candidate's poll ratings fell abruptly after the banking scandal.
  13. To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); to happen. Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday.
  14. intransitive To be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance. And so it falls to me to make this important decision.
  15. obsolete, transitive To diminish; to lessen or lower. Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities.
  16. obsolete, transitive To bring forth. to fall lambs
  17. intransitive, obsolete To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals. As for Calves newly fallen, you must leave them with good Litter of fresh Straw until such qime as the Cows have licked and cleansed them,
  18. intransitive To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
  19. intransitive To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before. to fall into error;  to fall into difficulties;  to fall into ruin
  20. intransitive To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face. Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
  21. intransitive To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon). Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.
  22. intransitive To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry. After arguing, they fell to blows.
  23. intransitive To be dropped or uttered carelessly. An unguarded expression fell from his lips.
  24. intransitive To hang down (under the influence of gravity). An Empire-style dress has a high waistline – directly under the bust – from which the dress falls all the way to a hem as low as the floor.
  25. intransitive, slang To visit; to go to a place. We'll fall over to the club tonight.

noun falls · fal

  1. countable, uncountable The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity. the fall of the snow
  2. countable, uncountable A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc. “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.
  3. Canada, US, archaic, countable, uncountable The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. A friend has pointed out to me the following remark on this word: "In North America the season in which this [the fall of the leaf] takes place, derives its name from that circumstance, and instead of autumn is universally called the fall." [brackets in original]
  4. countable, uncountable A waterfall. The celebrated fall of the Liffey, near Ballymore Eustace, is named Pool-a-Phooka, or The Pooka's Hole.
  5. countable, uncountable A loss of greatness or status. the fall of Rome
  6. countable, uncountable That which falls or cascades. A fall of hair tumbled down one side of her body like a veil.
  7. countable, uncountable The height of that which falls or cascades.
  8. countable, uncountable The action of a batsman being out.
  9. countable, uncountable A defect in the ice which causes stones thrown into an area to drift in a given direction.
  10. countable, uncountable An instance of a wrestler being pinned to the mat.
  11. countable, uncountable A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss. Female patients with localized hair loss on the top of scalp could select a fall or a demiwig to camouflage crown and anterior scalp loss.
  12. US, countable, informal, uncountable Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed. He set up his rival to take the fall.
  13. countable, uncountable The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural). Have the goodness to secure the falls of the mizzen halyards.
  14. countable, uncountable An old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.
  15. countable, uncountable A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker. Brooks fitted a new fall to his whip.
  16. countable, uncountable The lid, on a piano, that covers the keyboard.
  17. collective, countable, uncountable A group of woodcock, especially appearing suddenly, as if overnight. there had been a great fall of woodcock in the night

fall²

  • /fɔːl/ UK
  • /foːl/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /fɔl/ Scotland
  • /faːl/ Northumbria
  • /fɔl/
  • /fɑl/ cot caught merger
  • /fɒl/ Canada
  • /foːl/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like fool (fool–fall merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːl

Where it comes from

Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation of whale.

interjection

  1. The cry given when a whale is sighted, or harpooned.

noun falls

  1. The chasing of a hunted whale.

Fall³

proper noun the Fall

  1. The sudden fall of humanity into a state of sin, as brought about by the transgression of Adam and Eve.

proper noun Falls

  1. A surname.

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