Fall in Different Languages
Discover 'Fall' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'fall' holds a special significance in many cultures around the world. It refers to the season between summer and winter, where leaves change color and temperatures begin to drop. This season is a time of beauty and transformation, and is often associated with traditions such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and apple picking. The word 'fall' has also been adopted in various languages to describe this time of year.
Moreover, the word 'fall' has interesting historical contexts. In English, the term 'fall of the year' was used as early as the 16th century to describe the season. The word also has roots in the Old English word 'feallan,' which means 'to fall or to die.' This connection highlights the cyclical nature of life and death, which is beautifully reflected in the changing of the seasons.
Given its significance and cultural importance, you might be interested in learning the translation of 'fall' in different languages. Here are a few examples:
Fall
Fall in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | val | ||
| Val's alternate meaning, 'trap', likely originates from the Dutch word 'val' meaning 'snare'. | |||
| Amharic | መውደቅ | ||
| The word "መውደቅ" can also mean "to be exhausted" or "to give up". | |||
| Hausa | fada | ||
| In Hausa, the word "fada" can also mean "be disappointed"} | |||
| Igbo | daa | ||
| "Daa" (fall) in Igbo also means "happen" or "take place". | |||
| Malagasy | latsaka | ||
| The verb 'latsaka' in the highlands and 'lavoka' in the coastal regions both mean 'to fall', but 'latsaka' can also mean 'to drop' something. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kugwa | ||
| Kugwa means both "to fall" and "to commit suicide" in Nyanja, reflecting the seriousness with which suicide is viewed in the culture. | |||
| Shona | kudonha | ||
| The word 'kudonha' in Shona also refers to a trap or snare used to capture animals. | |||
| Somali | dhici | ||
| The word "dhici" in Somali can also mean "to abandon" or "to leave something behind". | |||
| Sesotho | ho oa | ||
| "Ho oa" can also mean "to get" or "to receive" in Sesotho. | |||
| Swahili | kuanguka | ||
| The Swahili word "kuanguka" can also refer to a loss of power or authority. | |||
| Xhosa | ukuwa | ||
| "Ukuwa" also means "to set (the sun)" or "to be extinguished." | |||
| Yoruba | ṣubu | ||
| Ṣubu, meaning "fall" in Yoruba, has a metaphorical meaning of "yielding" or "conceding". | |||
| Zulu | ukuwa | ||
| The word ukuwa is also used figuratively to mean "defeat" or "collapse". | |||
| Bambara | ka bi | ||
| Ewe | dze anyi | ||
| Kinyarwanda | kugwa | ||
| Lingala | kokwea | ||
| Luganda | okugwa | ||
| Sepedi | wa | ||
| Twi (Akan) | hwe ase | ||
Fall in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | خريف | ||
| "خريف" can also mean spring or autumn in some Arabic dialects. | |||
| Hebrew | נפילה | ||
| The word נפילה (fall) can also refer to an unexpected event, a sudden change in fortune, or a mistake. | |||
| Pashto | سقوط | ||
| The Pashto word "سقوط" can also refer to the act of surrendering or submitting. | |||
| Arabic | خريف | ||
| "خريف" can also mean spring or autumn in some Arabic dialects. | |||
Fall in Western European Languages
| Albanian | bie | ||
| The term "bie" is derived from the Proto-Albanian term *bi̯ā "downwards", "below", from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiə₂ "down, downwards, below" (compare with Latin infra "underneath, below". | |||
| Basque | erori | ||
| 'Erori' also means 'to die' and 'to be born' in Basque. | |||
| Catalan | caure | ||
| The word "caure" in Catalan derives from the Latin "cadere" meaning "to fall" or "to happen". | |||
| Croatian | pad | ||
| The Croatian word "pad" meaning "fall" is likely unrelated to the English "pad" meaning "a cushion or a writing tablet". | |||
| Danish | efterår | ||
| "Efterår" is derived from the Old Norse word "haustr", meaning "harvest", and is not related to the English word "fall." | |||
| Dutch | vallen | ||
| In Dutch, "vallen" can also mean "to go down in price," "to drop (a subject)," and "to attack." | |||
| English | fall | ||
| The word "fall" derives from the Old English word "feallan" and has multiple meanings, including autumn, a decrease, or a drop in value. | |||
| French | tomber | ||
| Tomber also means "to happen" or "to turn out" in French | |||
| Frisian | falle | ||
| The Frisian word 'falle' also refers to an area of low-lying land subject to flooding. | |||
| Galician | caer | ||
| In Galician, "caer" is linked to "chance" or "fate", and as a result, the phrase "caer n-unha" means "to run into someone". | |||
| German | fallen | ||
| The German word "fallen" can also mean "to happen" or "to take place." | |||
| Icelandic | haust | ||
| The word "haust" is also used to refer to a sudden drop in temperature or a time of great hardship. | |||
| Irish | titim | ||
| In Irish, "titim" has multiple meanings: "to fall, to fall upon, to rush upon, to attack, to happen, to come to pass, to occur, to befall, to come to one, to be on the point of". | |||
| Italian | autunno | ||
| The Italian word "autunno" derives from the Latin word "autumnus", which originally referred to the season of harvest and abundance. | |||
| Luxembourgish | falen | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "falen" also refers to the action of cutting down a tree. | |||
| Maltese | jaqgħu | ||
| The verb 'jaqgħu' may derive from the Semitic root 'n-q-d', meaning to descend or sink. | |||
| Norwegian | falle | ||
| The word "falle" can also mean "to fade" or "to diminish". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | outono | ||
| "Outono" is cognate with the French word "automne," deriving from the Latin word "autumnus," meaning "the season of increase," as it was the season for harvesting crops. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | tuiteam | ||
| 'Tuiteam' can also mean 'to descend', 'to drop', or 'to let fall'. | |||
| Spanish | otoño | ||
| The Spanish word 'otoño' derives from the Latin 'autumnus', which originally referred to the autumn season but later came to mean 'year'. | |||
| Swedish | falla | ||
| In Swedish, "falla" can also mean "to fail" or "to be wrong or mistaken." | |||
| Welsh | cwympo | ||
| The Welsh word 'cwympo' not only means 'to fall', but also 'to occur' or 'to happen'. | |||
Fall in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | восень | ||
| The word "восень" in Belarusian has alternative meanings of "autumn", "harvest" and potentially originated from the term "осень" in old Old East Slavic, meaning the same. | |||
| Bosnian | pad | ||
| The word 'pad' in Bosnian is sometimes also used for hitting a wall or crashing against something. | |||
| Bulgarian | есен | ||
| The Bulgarian word "есен" (fall) is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *jęsenь, which also means "autumn" or "harvest". | |||
| Czech | podzim | ||
| The Czech word "podzim" derives from the Proto-Slavic root "jesenьь", meaning "autumn," and is cognate with the Polish "jesień" and Russian "осень" (osen'). | |||
| Estonian | sügis | ||
| "Sügis" derives from a Proto-Finnic word meaning "autumn", and is linguistically unrelated to its homophone "suvi" ( | |||
| Finnish | pudota | ||
| The Finnish word 'pudota' can also refer to 'to drop' or 'to shed', such as 'leaves fall from trees in autumn'. | |||
| Hungarian | esik | ||
| "Esik" also derives from a Proto-Ugoric noun *ačk "a drop of liquid". | |||
| Latvian | kritiens | ||
| The word "kritiens" also means "crisis" in Latvian | |||
| Lithuanian | kristi | ||
| The word "kristi" in Lithuanian can also mean "to drop" or "to descend". | |||
| Macedonian | падне | ||
| The verb “падне” also has a figurative meaning, for example: “He promised and did not deliver.” | |||
| Polish | spadek | ||
| The Polish word "spadek" originally meant "succession" or "inheritance" and is related to the verb "spadać" (to fall). | |||
| Romanian | toamna | ||
| "Toamna" comes from Latin "autumnus" and means "season of abundance", referring to harvesting the ripe crops. | |||
| Russian | падать | ||
| The word "падать" can also mean "to become due" or "to decline in value". | |||
| Serbian | пасти | ||
| The Serbian word "пасти" can also mean "to graze" or "to shepherd". | |||
| Slovak | spadnúť | ||
| The word 'spadnúť' can also mean 'to fall out' or 'to lose one's hair'. | |||
| Slovenian | padec | ||
| The word "padec" in Slovenian can also mean "case" in terms of grammar or "decline" as in "moral decline". | |||
| Ukrainian | падіння | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of "fall," "падіння" can also refer to a decline or collapse, both in a physical and metaphorical sense. | |||
Fall in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | পড়া | ||
| The word "পড়া" can also refer to "reading" or "studying" in Bengali, a polysemic usage not found in the word "fall" in English. | |||
| Gujarati | પતન | ||
| Originally meaning a change in position, the word "પતન" has also come to mean "failing," "loss," or "sinking." | |||
| Hindi | गिरना | ||
| The Sanskrit origin of "girnā" suggests its initial meaning may be "to turn" or "to revolve." | |||
| Kannada | ಪತನ | ||
| The word "ಪತನ" can also refer to "downfall" or "degradation" | |||
| Malayalam | വീഴുക | ||
| The Malayalam verb 'വീഴുക' can also mean 'to become' or 'to happen' | |||
| Marathi | पडणे | ||
| The word "पडणे" also means "to die" or "to be defeated" in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | खस्नु | ||
| The word खस्नु (fall) is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʰes-, meaning 'to cut' or 'to separate'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਡਿੱਗਣਾ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වැටීම | ||
| Sinhala's 'වැටීම' also refers to becoming unconscious or faint. | |||
| Tamil | வீழ்ச்சி | ||
| Telugu | పతనం | ||
| Meaning destruction , overthrow or losing one's status, "పతనం" also has an alternate meaning of death | |||
| Urdu | گر | ||
| The Urdu word گر ('fall') can also mean a 'lock', a 'knot', or 'to get stuck'. | |||
Fall in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 秋季 | ||
| 秋季 (qiūjì) also refers to the season of autumn or harvest. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 秋季 | ||
| The word "秋季" can also refer to the season of autumn. | |||
| Japanese | 秋 | ||
| The character "秋" can also mean "autumn", and is often used in Japanese poetry and literature to evoke a sense of the changing seasons and the beauty of nature. | |||
| Korean | 가을 | ||
| The Korean word "가을" (fall) originated from the Middle Korean word "가을" (autumn) and is also used to refer to the autumn season. | |||
| Mongolian | унах | ||
| According to one theory, the word "унах" in Mongolian, meaning "fall", may be linked to the word "унаж" (to flow, to pour), suggesting a connection to the idea of falling like a liquid. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | လဲလိမ့်မည် | ||
Fall in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | jatuh | ||
| The word "jatuh" can also mean "to fall in love" or "to fall ill" in Indonesian. | |||
| Javanese | tiba | ||
| "Tiba" can also mean "arrive" in Javanese. | |||
| Khmer | ធ្លាក់ | ||
| The word "ធ្លាក់" can also mean "to decrease" or "to lose". | |||
| Lao | ຕົກ | ||
| The Lao word "ຕົກ" can also mean "to happen" or "to descend". | |||
| Malay | jatuh | ||
| In Indonesian, "jatuh" can also mean "to die" or "to fail an exam", as in "dia jatuh sakit" (he fell sick) or "dia jatuh ujian" (he failed the exam). | |||
| Thai | ตก | ||
| ตก is also a slang for 'beautiful' or 'attractive'. | |||
| Vietnamese | ngã | ||
| The word "ngã" can also mean "to die" in Vietnamese, which is likely related to the belief that death is a kind of fall. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkahulog | ||
Fall in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | düşmək | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "düşmək" can also mean "to be left behind," "to fail," or "to die." | |||
| Kazakh | құлау | ||
| Құлау also means 'to perish; to die' and can be used in a wider sense than 'to fall' to encompass death and similar. | |||
| Kyrgyz | жыгылуу | ||
| The alternate meaning of "жыгылуу" in Kyrgyz is "to be defeated, to lose"} | |||
| Tajik | афтидан | ||
| In some cases, the Persian word "افتادن" ("aftadn") can also mean "to die" or "to pass away" when used in a Tajik context. | |||
| Turkmen | ýykylmak | ||
| Uzbek | yiqilish | ||
| The Uzbek word "yiqilish" comes from the Proto-Turkic root *yıg-, meaning "to fall, drop, or collapse." | |||
| Uyghur | چۈشۈش | ||
Fall in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hāʻule | ||
| Hāʻule relates to "hau," a Polynesian plant, and can also mean "slippery" or "to make slippery." | |||
| Maori | hinga | ||
| Hinga can also be used to refer to a death, which is understood as a 'downfall', or to the decline of the moon. | |||
| Samoan | pa'ū | ||
| The Samoan word "pa'ū" also means "to cut down" or "to fell". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | pagkahulog | ||
| The word "pagkahulog" can also refer to a person's social status or reputation. | |||
Fall in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | aynacht'aña | ||
| Guarani | ho'a | ||
Fall in International Languages
| Esperanto | fali | ||
| The word "fali" also means "to lack" or "to be without" in Esperanto. | |||
| Latin | cadere | ||
| The noun form "căsus," meaning "happenstance" in Latin, derives from "cādō." | |||
Fall in Others Languages
| Greek | πτώση | ||
| The word πτώση (ptōsis) means 'fall' in Greek, but can also refer to a grammatical case or a medical condition involving drooping eyelids or muscles. | |||
| Hmong | poob | ||
| The word "poob" can also mean "to drop" or "to let go". | |||
| Kurdish | ketin | ||
| The word "ketin" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*kad-, *ket-," meaning "to fall, to sink, to dive." | |||
| Turkish | sonbahar | ||
| The Turkish word "sonbahar" derives from the Old Turkic "son" meaning "end" and "bahar" meaning "spring", hence "end of spring". | |||
| Xhosa | ukuwa | ||
| "Ukuwa" also means "to set (the sun)" or "to be extinguished." | |||
| Yiddish | פאַלן | ||
| פאַלן (fall) can also mean “to drop off” (“to fall asleep”) or “to lower” (like a price). | |||
| Zulu | ukuwa | ||
| The word ukuwa is also used figuratively to mean "defeat" or "collapse". | |||
| Assamese | পৰি যোৱা | ||
| Aymara | aynacht'aña | ||
| Bhojpuri | गिरल | ||
| Dhivehi | ވެއްޓުން | ||
| Dogri | डिग्गना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkahulog | ||
| Guarani | ho'a | ||
| Ilocano | matinnag | ||
| Krio | fɔdɔm | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | کەوتن | ||
| Maithili | खसब | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯥꯕ | ||
| Mizo | tla | ||
| Oromo | kufuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ପତନ | ||
| Quechua | chakiy mita | ||
| Sanskrit | पतनम् | ||
| Tatar | егылу | ||
| Tigrinya | ምውዳቅ | ||
| Tsonga | ku wa | ||