fallen

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See also: Fallen, fällen, Fällen, and fållen

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Morphologically fall +‎ -en.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

fallen

  1. past participle of fall

Adjective[edit]

fallen (not generally comparable, comparative more fallen, superlative most fallen)

  1. Having dropped by the force of gravity.
    fallen raindrops
  2. (literary) Killed in battle.
    to honor fallen soldiers
  3. Having lost one's chastity.
    a fallen woman
    • 1964, Katharine Hillyer, Mark Twain, Young Reporter in Virginia City: The Racy, Rollicking Adventures of a Great Author in the Gamiest, Richest, Mightiest Town in All the Frontier West!:
      Madam Julia was the town's ranking prostitute; virtuous female society demanded that they not suffer the unbearable pain of looking at, and being in company with, a fallen woman— one of the happiest, fallenest women in history, by the way.
    • 1991, Kelly Walsh, Nightshades and Orchids (→ISBN)
      "You make yourself out to be the fallenest of fallen women." Tilting her head toward Sharon, Debbie grinned. "Let's face it. There can't be winners without losers, and I'm a loser. But look at it this way. I make it possible for some other woman […]
  4. Having collapsed.
    a fallen building
  5. Having lost prestige, (Christian) grace, etc.
    • 1913, John Bigelow, Retrospections of an Active Life: 1867-1871, page 397:
      That fallenest of our fallen race has left town — said to be near Fontainebleau by some, in Italy by others. More consequent with himself than usual, he is fulfilling, in the only possible way left open to him, his promise […]

Usage notes[edit]

  • Rarely, the superlative form fallenest is encountered.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

  • (having lost prestige, (Christian) grace, etc.): arisen

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from the adjective fallen

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

fallen (plural fallen)

  1. (plural only) The dead.
  2. (plural only) Casualties of battle or war.
  3. (countable, Christianity) One who has fallen, as from grace.
    • 1873, James Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature, volume 5:
      In the Augustinian period, however, sin was held to be a death-inflicting agent, implying that the fallen was dead, and had to be restored to life.

Translations[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Verb[edit]

fallen

  1. third-person plural present indicative form of fallar

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German vallen, from Old High German fallan, from Proto-West Germanic *fallan, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *pōl-. Akin to Low German fallen, Dutch vallen, English fall, Danish falde, Dutch falla.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈfaln̩/, /ˈfalən/
  • audio (Germany)(file)
  • audio (Austria)(file)

Verb[edit]

fallen (class 7 strong, third-person singular present fällt, past tense fiel, past participle gefallen, auxiliary sein)

  1. (intransitive) to fall; to drop
    • 1960, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, ‘Gespenster’:
      Das Programm fiel ihr aus der Hand.
      The programme fell from her hand.
    Der Regen fiel wie aus Eimern.
    It rained cats and dogs. (literally: 'The rain fell as if out of buckets.')
    Sie fiel zu Boden.
    She fell to the floor.
  2. (intransitive, military) to die; to fall in battle; to die in battle; to be killed in action
    • 1918, Elisabeth von Heyking, Die Orgelpfeifen, in: Zwei Erzählungen, Phillipp Reclam jun. Verlag, page 31:
      Bei einem Patrouillenritt, zu dem er sich freiwillig gemeldet, war der älteste der Enkel gefallen. Ruhte nun fern in Feindesland.
      On a patrolling ride, for which he had volunteered, the oldest of the grandchildren had died. Rested now far away in enemy country.
  3. (intransitive) to fall, to collapse, to be overthrown.
    Das Römische Reich fiel auf Grund der Völkerwanderung.
    The Roman Empire was overthrown by the consequences of the Migration period.
  4. (intransitive) to become lower, to decrease, to decline
    Zur Zeit der Finanzkrise fielen viele Aktienkurse um zahlreiche Prozentpunkte.
    During the banking scandal many stock prices decreased by a large percentage.

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of fallen (class 7 strong, auxiliary sein)
infinitive fallen
present participle fallend
past participle gefallen
auxiliary sein
indicative subjunctive
present ich falle wir fallen i ich falle wir fallen
du fällst ihr fallt du fallest ihr fallet
er fällt sie fallen er falle sie fallen
preterite ich fiel wir fielen ii ich fiele1 wir fielen1
du fielst ihr fielt du fielest1
du fielst1 		ihr fielet1
ihr fielt1
er fiel sie fielen er fiele1 sie fielen1
imperative fall (du)
falle (du) 		fallt (ihr)

1This form and alternative in würde both found.

Composed forms of fallen (class 7 strong, auxiliary sein)
perfect
indicative ich bin gefallen wir sind gefallen subjunctive ich sei gefallen wir seien gefallen
du bist gefallen ihr seid gefallen du seist gefallen
du seiest gefallen 		ihr seiet gefallen
er ist gefallen sie sind gefallen er sei gefallen sie seien gefallen
pluperfect
indicative ich war gefallen wir waren gefallen subjunctive ich wäre gefallen wir wären gefallen
du warst gefallen ihr wart gefallen du wärst gefallen
du wärest gefallen 		ihr wärt gefallen
ihr wäret gefallen
er war gefallen sie waren gefallen er wäre gefallen sie wären gefallen
future i
infinitive fallen werden subjunctive i ich werde fallen wir werden fallen
du werdest fallen ihr werdet fallen
er werde fallen sie werden fallen
indicative ich werde fallen wir werden fallen subjunctive ii ich würde fallen wir würden fallen
du wirst fallen ihr werdet fallen du würdest fallen ihr würdet fallen
er wird fallen sie werden fallen er würde fallen sie würden fallen
future ii
infinitive gefallen sein werden subjunctive i ich werde gefallen sein wir werden gefallen sein
du werdest gefallen sein ihr werdet gefallen sein
er werde gefallen sein sie werden gefallen sein
indicative ich werde gefallen sein wir werden gefallen sein subjunctive ii ich würde gefallen sein wir würden gefallen sein
du wirst gefallen sein ihr werdet gefallen sein du würdest gefallen sein ihr würdet gefallen sein
er wird gefallen sein sie werden gefallen sein er würde gefallen sein sie würden gefallen sein

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Derived terms

Further reading[edit]

  • “fallen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “fallen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • “fallen” in Duden online
  • “fallen” in OpenThesaurus.de


Low German[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Low German vallen, from Old Saxon fallan, from Proto-West Germanic *fallan, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈfalːn̩/, /ˈfalːən/

Verb[edit]

fallen (past singular full, past participle fullen, auxiliary verb wesen)

  1. (ergative) to fall, tumble
    de Avend fallt ― the evening falls
    in Slaap fallen ― to fall asleep
  2. to happen
    dat is op düssen Dag fullen ― that happened on that day

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of fallen (class 7 strong verb)
infinitive fallen
indicative present preterite
1st person singular fall full
2nd person singular falls(t) fulls(t)
3rd person singular fall(t) full
plural fallt, fallen fullen
imperative present —
singular fall
plural fallt
participle present past
fallen (e)fullen, gefullen
Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English feallan, from Proto-West Germanic *fallan, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną. Weak forms are due to the conflation of this verb with fellen (“to fell”) in some dialects.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

fallen

  1. to fall

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of fallen (strong class 7 or weak in -de)
infinitive (to) fallen, falle
present tense past tense
1st-person singular falle fell, falde
2nd-person singular fallest felle, fell, faldest
3rd-person singular falleth fell, falde
subjunctive singular falle felle1, falde1
imperative singular —
plural2 fallen, falle fellen, felle, falden, falde
imperative plural falleth, falle —
participles fallynge, fallende fallen, falle, fald, yfallen, yfalle

1Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
2Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants[edit]

  • English: fall
  • Yola: vall, vale, vole

References[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From the verb falle

Adjective[edit]

fallen (neuter singular fallent, definite singular and plural falne)

  1. fallen

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From the verb falle

Adjective[edit]

fallen (neuter singular falle, definite singular and plural falne)

  1. fallen

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

fallen

  1. inflection of fallar:
    1. third-person plural present subjunctive
    2. third-person plural imperative
  2. third-person plural present indicative of fallir

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

past participle of falla.

Adjective[edit]

fallen

  1. fallen
    en fallen ängel ― a fallen angel
    fallna äpplen ― fallen apples

Declension[edit]

Inflection of fallen
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular fallen — —
Neuter singular fallet — —
Plural fallna — —
Masculine plural3 fallne — —
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 fallne — —
All fallna — —
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic

Noun[edit]

fallen

  1. definite plural of fall

Anagrams[edit]

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