"befall" meaning in English

See befall in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /bɪˈfɔːl/ [UK], /bɪˈfɔl/ [US], /bɪˈfɑl/ [US, cot-caught-merger] Audio: En-us-befall.ogg Forms: befalls [plural]
Rhymes: -ɔːl Etymology: From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-West Germanic *bifallan, 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|gmw-pro|*bifallan}} Proto-West Germanic *bifallan, {{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 Categories (other): Terms with Ancient Greek translations, Terms with Old English translations Disambiguation of Terms with Ancient Greek translations: 38 13 39 5 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Old English translations: 38 11 46 4 1

Verb

IPA: /bɪˈfɔːl/ [UK], /bɪˈfɔl/ [US], /bɪˈfɑl/ [US, cot-caught-merger] Audio: En-us-befall.ogg 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-West Germanic *bifallan, 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|gmw-pro|*bifallan}} Proto-West Germanic *bifallan, {{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-, Terms with Ancient Greek translations, Terms with Old English translations Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with be-: 25 32 24 15 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Ancient Greek translations: 38 13 39 5 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Old English translations: 38 11 46 4 1
  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, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries, Terms with Ancient Greek translations, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Gothic translations, Terms with Hebrew translations, Terms with Indonesian translations, Terms with Latin translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Nepali translations, Terms with Old English translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Telugu translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 17 10 66 5 1 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 13 14 65 6 2 Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 18 15 58 7 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 13 11 69 5 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Ancient Greek translations: 38 13 39 5 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 17 12 63 5 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 10 17 62 8 3 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 9 12 70 5 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Gothic translations: 24 9 60 4 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Hebrew translations: 21 11 59 5 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Indonesian translations: 17 12 63 5 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Latin translations: 7 12 73 5 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 17 12 63 5 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Nepali translations: 20 11 60 5 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Old English translations: 38 11 46 4 1 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 8 13 71 6 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 19 10 64 5 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Telugu translations: 19 12 61 5 3 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

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "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": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*bifallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bifallan",
      "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-West Germanic *bifallan, 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 32 24 15 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with be-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 13 39 5 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ancient Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 11 46 4 1",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Old English translations",
          "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": "17 10 66 5 1",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 14 65 6 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 15 58 7 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 3 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 11 69 5 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 13 39 5 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ancient Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 12 63 5 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 17 62 8 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 12 70 5 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "24 9 60 4 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Gothic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 11 59 5 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hebrew translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 12 63 5 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Indonesian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 12 73 5 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Latin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 12 63 5 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Macedonian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 11 60 5 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Nepali translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 11 46 4 1",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Old English translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 13 71 6 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 10 64 5 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 12 61 5 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Telugu translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1485 July 5, 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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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": "1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "But as soon as her son espied her, bowl in hand, he thought that haply something untoward had befallen her, but he would not ask of aught until such time as she had set down the bowl, when she acquainted him with that which had occurred[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:",
          "text": "I beseech your grace that I may know / The worst that may befall me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "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"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    }
  ],
  "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": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*bifallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bifallan",
      "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-West Germanic *bifallan, 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": [
        {
          "_dis": "38 13 39 5 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ancient Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 11 46 4 1",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Old English translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1495, William Caxton, Vitas Patrum:",
          "text": "Or he had tolde al his befall.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "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"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "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 derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "English terms prefixed with be-",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Ancient Greek translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Gothic translations",
    "Terms with Hebrew translations",
    "Terms with Indonesian translations",
    "Terms with Latin translations",
    "Terms with Macedonian translations",
    "Terms with Nepali translations",
    "Terms with Old English translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Telugu translations"
  ],
  "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": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*bifallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bifallan",
      "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-West Germanic *bifallan, 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 5, 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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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": "1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "But as soon as her son espied her, bowl in hand, he thought that haply something untoward had befallen her, but he would not ask of aught until such time as she had set down the bowl, when she acquainted him with that which had occurred[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:",
          "text": "I beseech your grace that I may know / The worst that may befall me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "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"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    }
  ],
  "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 countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "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 derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "English terms prefixed with be-",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔːl/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Ancient Greek translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Gothic translations",
    "Terms with Hebrew translations",
    "Terms with Indonesian translations",
    "Terms with Latin translations",
    "Terms with Macedonian translations",
    "Terms with Nepali translations",
    "Terms with Old English translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Telugu translations"
  ],
  "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": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*bifallan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bifallan",
      "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-West Germanic *bifallan, 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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "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"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "befall"
}

Download raw JSONL data for befall meaning in English (11.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.