fall

pronunciation

How to pronounce fall in British English: UK [fɔːl] word uk audio image

How to pronounce fall in American English: US [fɔːl] word us audio image

Noun:

the season when the leaves fall from the trees
a sudden drop from an upright position
a downward slope or bend
a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity
a sudden decline in strength or number or importance
a movement downward
the act of surrendering (under agreed conditions)
the time of day immediately following sunset
when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat
a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity
a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity
Verb:

descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind
come under, be classified or included
fall from clouds
suffer defeat, failure, or ruin
decrease in size, extent, or range
die, as in battle or in a hunt
touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly
be captured
occur at a specified time or place
yield to temptation or sin
lose office or power
to be given by assignment or distribution
move in a specified direction
be due
lose one's chastity
to be given by right or inheritance
come into the possession of
fall to somebody by assignment or lot
be inherited by
slope downward
lose an upright position suddenly
drop oneself to a lower or less erect position
fall or flow in a certain way
assume a disappointed or sad expression
be cast down
come out; issue
be born, used chiefly of lambs
begin vigorously
go as if by falling
come as if by falling

Word Origin

fall: fall: [OE] The verb fall comes from prehistoric Germanic *fallan, which also produced German fallen, Dutch vallen, and Swedish falla. The noun is partly a survival of Old English feall, partly a borrowing from the related Old Norse fall, but probably mostly a new formation based on the verb. The sense ‘autumn’, now restricted to American English, originated in the 16th century from an earlier phrase fall of the leaf. (Fell ‘cut down’ is related: etymologically it means ‘cause to fall’.)=> fell

fall (v.): Old English feallan (class VII strong verb; past tense feoll, past participle feallen) "to drop from a height; fail, decay, die," from Proto-Germanic *fallan (cognates: Old Frisian falla, Old Saxon fallan, Dutch vallen, Old Norse falla, Old High German fallan, German fallen, absent in Gothic). These are from PIE root *pol- "to fall" (cognates: Armenian p'ul "downfall," Lithuanian puola "to fall," Old Prussian aupallai "finds," literally "falls upon"). Meaning "come suddenly to the ground" is from late Old English. Of darkness, night, from c. 1600; of land sloping from 1570s; of prices from 1570s. Of empires, governments, etc., from c. 1200. Of the face or countenance from late 14c. Meaning "to be reduced" (as temperature) is from 1650s. Meaning "die in battle" is from 1570s. Meaning "to pass casually (into some condition)" is from early 13c. To fall in "take place or position" is from 1751. To fall in love is attested from 1520s; to fall asleep is late 14c. To fall down is early 13c. (a-dun follon); to fall behind is from 1856. Fall through "fail, come to nothing" is from 1781. To fall for something is from 1903. To fall out is by mid-13c. in a literal sense; military use is from 1832. Meaning "have a disagreement, begin to quarrel" is attested from 1560s (to fall out with "quarrel with" is from late 15c.).

fall (n.): c. 1200, "a falling to the ground; a dropping from a height, a descent from a higher to a lower position (as by gravity); a collapsing of a building," from the source of fall (n.). (Old English noun fealle meant "snare, trap.") Meaning "a sinking down, subsidence" Of the coming of night from 1650s. Meaning "downward direction of a surface" is from 1560s, of a value from 1550s. Theological sense, "a succumbing to sin or temptation" (especially of Adam and Eve) is from early 13c. Sense of "autumn" (now only in U.S. but formerly common in England) is by 1660s, short for fall of the leaf (1540s). Meaning "cascade, waterfall" is from 1570s (often plural, falls, when the descent is in stages; fall of water is attested from mid-15c.). Wrestling sense is from 1550s. Of a city under siege, etc., 1580s. Fall guy is from 1906.

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