Etymology
1. O.E.
feallan (class VII strong verb; past tense
feoll, pp.
feallen), from P.Gmc.
*fallanan (cf. O.N.
falla, O.H.G.
fallan), from PIE base
*phol- "to fall" (cf. Armenian
p'ul "downfall," Lith.
puola "to fall," O.Prus.
aupallai "finds," lit. "falls upon"). Noun sense of "autumn" (now only in U.S.) is 1664, short for
fall of the leaf (1545). That of "cascade, waterfall" is from 1579. Most of the figurative senses had developed in M.E. Meaning "to be reduced" (as temperature) is from 1658. To
fall in love is attested from 1530; to
fall asleep is 1393.
Fall guy is from 1906.
Fallout "radioactive particles" is from 1950.
Fallen "morally ruined" is from 1628.
2. 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”).
3. Cognates
4. 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”).
5. 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”).
6. 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”. See: Middle English '
fallen', Old English '
feallan', Proto-Germanic '
*fallaną', Scots '
faw', Frisian, Saterlandic 'faale', Cimbrian 'ballan', Dutch '
vallen', Luxembourgish '
falen', Danish '
falde', Norwegian '
falle', Norwegian, nynorsk '
falla', Latin '
aboleō'.
Verbs referencing "fall"
German, old spelling
fallen, Ido falar, Norwegian
falle, Norwegian, nynorsk
falle, German, Pennsylvania
falle, Esperanto
fali, Luxembourgish
falen, Cimbrian vallan, Danish
falde, Lithuanian
pulti, Frisian, Saterlandic faale, Krio fɔl.