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FALL
Definition of FALL
verb
To be moved downwards. To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
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”). 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”.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.4%
of traced words share this origin (11,223)
How it is built
Same root, FALL · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Ancient Greek, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Latin, Norwegian, Scots, Swedish and 1 more.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
FALL in OUTLIER
It has fitted 5 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 110, 7 September 2026. The most recent board was Day 154, 21 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 117, 14 September 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
FALL starts with F and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read AFLL - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. L appears more than once, including a double letter.
Words that start FALL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found FALL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 110 - and most players walked straight past it.
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