fall

fall · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fallą
2. Old English · inherited fromfealle“trap, snare”
3. Old English · inherited fromfeall
4. Middle English · inherited fromfal
5. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*h₃elh₁-“to collapse, fall; to destroy”
6. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fallaną“to fall”
7. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fallan“to fall”
8. Old English · inherited fromfeallan“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”
9. Middle English · inherited fromfallen
10. English todayfall

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”.

fall · interjection, noun²

Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation of whale.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 16th c. 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.
• from 14th c. The sudden fall of humanity into a state of sin, as brought about by the transgression of Adam and Eve.