The story
- Middle English · inherited fromonfal
- English todayonfall
From Middle English onfal, onfalle, equivalent to on- + fall. Cognate with Dutch aanval (“an attack, assault”), German Anfall (“an attack, seizure, fit”), Swedish anfall (“an attack, offensive, assault”). Compare also Middle English onfallynge (“an onslaught, attack”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.