"befall" meaning in All languages combined

See befall on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /bɪˈfɔːl/ [UK], /bɪˈfɔl/ [US], /bɪˈfɑl/ [US] Audio: En-us-befall.ogg [US] Forms: befalls [plural]
Rhymes: -ɔːl Etymology: From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|bifallen}} Middle English bifallen, {{inh|en|ang|befeallan}} Old English befeallan, {{inh|en|gem-pro|*bifallaną}} Proto-Germanic *bifallaną, {{pre|en|be|fall}} be- + fall Head templates: {{en-noun}} befall (plural befalls)
  1. Case; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident.
    Sense id: en-befall-en-noun-VkQSv9nI

Verb [English]

IPA: /bɪˈfɔːl/ [UK], /bɪˈfɔl/ [US], /bɪˈfɑl/ [US] Audio: En-us-befall.ogg [US] Forms: befalls [present, singular, third-person], befalling [participle, present], befell [past], befallen [participle, past]
Rhymes: -ɔːl Etymology: From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|bifallen}} Middle English bifallen, {{inh|en|ang|befeallan}} Old English befeallan, {{inh|en|gem-pro|*bifallaną}} Proto-Germanic *bifallaną, {{pre|en|be|fall}} be- + fall Head templates: {{en-verb|befalls|befalling|befell|befallen}} befall (third-person singular simple present befalls, present participle befalling, simple past befell, past participle befallen)
  1. (transitive) To fall upon; fall all over; overtake Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-befall-en-verb-Y8lKrVJ~ Categories (other): English terms prefixed with be- Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with be-: 25 33 21 15 5
  2. (intransitive) To happen. Tags: intransitive Synonyms (to happen): come to pass
    Sense id: en-befall-en-verb-26r04KJK Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 11 64 5 1 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 16 15 61 7 1 Disambiguation of 'to happen': 4 66 28 1
  3. (transitive) To happen to. Tags: transitive Translations (happen to): καταλαμβάνω (katalambánō) (Ancient Greek), случвам се (Bulgarian), сполитам (spolitam) (Bulgarian), overkomen (Dutch), befallen (German), zustoßen (German), hereinbrechen (German), widerfahren (German), 𐌱𐌹𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (biqiman) (Gothic), אֵרַע (erá') (Hebrew), terjadi pada (Indonesian), accido (Latin), incidō (Latin), cado (Latin), ēveniō (Latin), западне (zapadne) (Macedonian), पर्नु (parnu) (Nepali), āgangan (Old English), случаться (slučatʹsja) (Russian), vederfaras (Swedish), మూడు (mūḍu) (Telugu)
    Sense id: en-befall-en-verb-qIfo6WPC Disambiguation of 'happen to': 4 36 59 1
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To fall. Tags: intransitive, obsolete
    Sense id: en-befall-en-verb-dMc6YJ5D
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: occur, transpire Derived forms: befalling, misbefall

Verb [German]

IPA: /bəˈfal/ Audio: De-befall.ogg
Rhymes: -al Head templates: {{head|de|verb form}} befall
  1. singular imperative of befallen Tags: form-of, imperative, singular Form of: befallen
    Sense id: en-befall-de-verb-FJRlYdxv Categories (other): German entries with incorrect language header

Verb [Swedish]

Head templates: {{head|sv|verb form}} befall
  1. imperative of befalla Tags: form-of, imperative Form of: befalla
    Sense id: en-befall-sv-verb-yhU8Epkp Categories (other): Swedish entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for befall meaning in All languages combined (10.7kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "befalling"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "misbefall"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bifallen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bifallen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "befeallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English befeallan",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*bifallaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bifallaną",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "be",
        "3": "fall"
      },
      "expansion": "be- + fall",
      "name": "pre"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "befalls",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "befalling",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "befell",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "befallen",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "befalls",
        "2": "befalling",
        "3": "befell",
        "4": "befallen"
      },
      "expansion": "befall (third-person singular simple present befalls, present participle befalling, simple past befell, past participle befallen)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "25 33 21 15 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with be-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "At dusk an unusual calm befalls the wetlands.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fall upon; fall all over; overtake"
      ],
      "id": "en-befall-en-verb-Y8lKrVJ~",
      "links": [
        [
          "fall",
          "fall"
        ],
        [
          "overtake",
          "overtake"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To fall upon; fall all over; overtake"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 11 64 5 1",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 15 61 7 1",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1485 July 2, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter I, in William Caxton, editor, Le Morte D’Arthur, volume 1",
          "text": "It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon [...] that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To happen."
      ],
      "id": "en-befall-en-verb-26r04KJK",
      "links": [
        [
          "happen",
          "happen"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To happen."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 66 28 1",
          "sense": "to happen",
          "word": "come to pass"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Temptation befell me.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 April 15, Walter Russell Mead, “The Wreck of the Euro”, in The American Interest, retrieved 2013-04-16",
          "text": "As we’ve said before, with the exception of communism itself, the euro has been the biggest economic catastrophe to befall the continent (and the world) since the 1930s.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Reading (1840)”, in Rail, number 947, page 57",
          "text": "This wasn't the last tragedy to befall Reading. There were fatal accidents involving trains in 1855 and 1914, while on a lesser scale T E Lawrence (of Arabia) lost his precious manuscript of Seven Pillars of Wisdom when changing trains in 1919.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To happen to."
      ],
      "id": "en-befall-en-verb-qIfo6WPC",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To happen to."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "случвам се"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "spolitam",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "сполитам"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "overkomen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "befallen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "zustoßen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "hereinbrechen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "widerfahren"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "got",
          "lang": "Gothic",
          "roman": "biqiman",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "𐌱𐌹𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "grc",
          "lang": "Ancient Greek",
          "roman": "katalambánō",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "καταλαμβάνω"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "erá'",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "אֵרַע"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "id",
          "lang": "Indonesian",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "terjadi pada"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "accido"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "incidō"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "cado"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "ēveniō"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "zapadne",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "западне"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "ne",
          "lang": "Nepali",
          "roman": "parnu",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "पर्नु"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "ang",
          "lang": "Old English",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "āgangan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "slučatʹsja",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "случаться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "vederfaras"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 36 59 1",
          "code": "te",
          "lang": "Telugu",
          "roman": "mūḍu",
          "sense": "happen to",
          "word": "మూడు"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "c. 1620, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665)",
          "text": "With a thought I tooke for Maudline\n& a cruse of cockle pottage.\nwith a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all:\nI befell into this dotage."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fall."
      ],
      "id": "en-befall-en-verb-dMc6YJ5D",
      "links": [
        [
          "fall",
          "fall"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, obsolete) To fall."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɑl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-befall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg/En-us-befall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "occur"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "transpire"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bifallen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bifallen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "befeallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English befeallan",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*bifallaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bifallaną",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "be",
        "3": "fall"
      },
      "expansion": "be- + fall",
      "name": "pre"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "befalls",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "befall (plural befalls)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1495, William Caxton, Vitas Patrum",
          "text": "Or he had tolde al his befall.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1990, India. Parliament. House of the People, India. Parliament. Lok Sabha, Lok Sabha debates",
          "text": "This is proposed to be done by moving necessary amendment in this befall to the Finance Bill.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Socialist Party (India), Janata: Volume 49",
          "text": "He said \"I would advise people to cultivate frugal habits. I will not commit the crime of making them helpless by saying that they have no responsibility whatever in the befall of calamities like old age, illness, accident, etc. …\""
        },
        {
          "ref": "1996, Thomas Pfau, Rhonda Ray Kercsmar, Rhetorical and cultural dissolution in romanticism",
          "text": "[...], the word \"care\" asserting itself subliminally in somewhat the same way that \"fall\" does in the \"befall\" of \"Infant Joy.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Case; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident."
      ],
      "id": "en-befall-en-noun-VkQSv9nI",
      "links": [
        [
          "Case",
          "case"
        ],
        [
          "instance",
          "instance"
        ],
        [
          "circumstance",
          "circumstance"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ],
        [
          "incident",
          "incident"
        ],
        [
          "accident",
          "accident"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɑl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-befall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg/En-us-befall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "befall",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "be‧fall"
  ],
  "lang": "German",
  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "German entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "befallen"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "singular imperative of befallen"
      ],
      "id": "en-befall-de-verb-FJRlYdxv",
      "links": [
        [
          "befallen",
          "befallen#German"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "imperative",
        "singular"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bəˈfal/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-al"
    },
    {
      "audio": "De-befall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bb/De-befall.ogg/De-befall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/De-befall.ogg",
      "text": "Audio"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "befall",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Swedish",
  "lang_code": "sv",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Swedish entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "befalla"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "imperative of befalla"
      ],
      "id": "en-befall-sv-verb-yhU8Epkp",
      "links": [
        [
          "befalla",
          "befalla#Swedish"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "imperative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English irregular verbs",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms prefixed with be-",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl/2 syllables"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "befalling"
    },
    {
      "word": "misbefall"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bifallen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bifallen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "befeallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English befeallan",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*bifallaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bifallaną",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "be",
        "3": "fall"
      },
      "expansion": "be- + fall",
      "name": "pre"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "befalls",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "befalling",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "befell",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "befallen",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "befalls",
        "2": "befalling",
        "3": "befell",
        "4": "befallen"
      },
      "expansion": "befall (third-person singular simple present befalls, present participle befalling, simple past befell, past participle befallen)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "At dusk an unusual calm befalls the wetlands.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fall upon; fall all over; overtake"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fall",
          "fall"
        ],
        [
          "overtake",
          "overtake"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To fall upon; fall all over; overtake"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1485 July 2, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter I, in William Caxton, editor, Le Morte D’Arthur, volume 1",
          "text": "It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon [...] that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To happen."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "happen",
          "happen"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To happen."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Temptation befell me.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 April 15, Walter Russell Mead, “The Wreck of the Euro”, in The American Interest, retrieved 2013-04-16",
          "text": "As we’ve said before, with the exception of communism itself, the euro has been the biggest economic catastrophe to befall the continent (and the world) since the 1930s.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Reading (1840)”, in Rail, number 947, page 57",
          "text": "This wasn't the last tragedy to befall Reading. There were fatal accidents involving trains in 1855 and 1914, while on a lesser scale T E Lawrence (of Arabia) lost his precious manuscript of Seven Pillars of Wisdom when changing trains in 1919.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To happen to."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To happen to."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "c. 1620, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665)",
          "text": "With a thought I tooke for Maudline\n& a cruse of cockle pottage.\nwith a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all:\nI befell into this dotage."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fall."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fall",
          "fall"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, obsolete) To fall."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɑl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-befall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg/En-us-befall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "to happen",
      "word": "come to pass"
    },
    {
      "word": "occur"
    },
    {
      "word": "transpire"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "случвам се"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "spolitam",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "сполитам"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "overkomen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "befallen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "zustoßen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "hereinbrechen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "widerfahren"
    },
    {
      "code": "got",
      "lang": "Gothic",
      "roman": "biqiman",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "𐌱𐌹𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽"
    },
    {
      "code": "grc",
      "lang": "Ancient Greek",
      "roman": "katalambánō",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "καταλαμβάνω"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "erá'",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "אֵרַע"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "terjadi pada"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "accido"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "incidō"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "cado"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "ēveniō"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "zapadne",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "западне"
    },
    {
      "code": "ne",
      "lang": "Nepali",
      "roman": "parnu",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "पर्नु"
    },
    {
      "code": "ang",
      "lang": "Old English",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "āgangan"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "slučatʹsja",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "случаться"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "vederfaras"
    },
    {
      "code": "te",
      "lang": "Telugu",
      "roman": "mūḍu",
      "sense": "happen to",
      "word": "మూడు"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English irregular verbs",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms prefixed with be-",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bifallen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bifallen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "befeallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English befeallan",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*bifallaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bifallaną",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "be",
        "3": "fall"
      },
      "expansion": "be- + fall",
      "name": "pre"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "befalls",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "befall (plural befalls)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1495, William Caxton, Vitas Patrum",
          "text": "Or he had tolde al his befall.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1990, India. Parliament. House of the People, India. Parliament. Lok Sabha, Lok Sabha debates",
          "text": "This is proposed to be done by moving necessary amendment in this befall to the Finance Bill.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Socialist Party (India), Janata: Volume 49",
          "text": "He said \"I would advise people to cultivate frugal habits. I will not commit the crime of making them helpless by saying that they have no responsibility whatever in the befall of calamities like old age, illness, accident, etc. …\""
        },
        {
          "ref": "1996, Thomas Pfau, Rhonda Ray Kercsmar, Rhetorical and cultural dissolution in romanticism",
          "text": "[...], the word \"care\" asserting itself subliminally in somewhat the same way that \"fall\" does in the \"befall\" of \"Infant Joy.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Case; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Case",
          "case"
        ],
        [
          "instance",
          "instance"
        ],
        [
          "circumstance",
          "circumstance"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ],
        [
          "incident",
          "incident"
        ],
        [
          "accident",
          "accident"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪˈfɑl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-befall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg/En-us-befall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-us-befall.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "befall",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "be‧fall"
  ],
  "lang": "German",
  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "German 2-syllable words",
        "German entries with incorrect language header",
        "German non-lemma forms",
        "German terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "German terms with audio links",
        "German verb forms",
        "Rhymes:German/al",
        "Rhymes:German/al/2 syllables"
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "befallen"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "singular imperative of befallen"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "befallen",
          "befallen#German"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "imperative",
        "singular"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bəˈfal/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-al"
    },
    {
      "audio": "De-befall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bb/De-befall.ogg/De-befall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/De-befall.ogg",
      "text": "Audio"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "befall",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Swedish",
  "lang_code": "sv",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Swedish entries with incorrect language header",
        "Swedish non-lemma forms",
        "Swedish verb forms"
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "befalla"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "imperative of befalla"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "befalla",
          "befalla#Swedish"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "imperative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.