Etymograph

English

fall

Fall comes from Middle English fallen ‘to fall’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃elh₁-1‘to collapse’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fallaną1‘to fall’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fallan1‘to fall’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150feallan1‘to fall’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fallen1‘to fall’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593fall1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fall
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “Ghoaſt [of Clarence]. […] / To morrow in the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃elh₁-Wiktionary, English fall‘to collapse’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fallanąWiktionary, English fall‘to fall’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fallanWiktionary, English fall‘to fall’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150feallanWiktionary, English fall‘to fall’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fallenWiktionary, English fall‘to fall’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593fallWiktionary, English fall. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “Ghoaſt [of Clarence]. […] / To morrow in the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- ‘to collapse, fall’

abolition, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *fallaną ‘to fall’

fell, 1 more

Today it means

verb To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fall”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- / fall

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