fallen

See also: Fallen, fällen, Fällen, and fållen

English

Etymology

Morphologically fall +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːlən/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔlən/
(cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑlən/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: (UK) -ɔːlən, (cot–caught merger) -ɑlən

Verb

fallen

past participle of fall

Adjective

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

Having dropped by the force of gravity.
fallen raindrops
(literary) Killed in battle.
to honor fallen soldiers
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 […]
Having collapsed.
a fallen building
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

Rarely, the superlative form fallenest is encountered.

Synonyms

(having collapsed): collapsed

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

Terms derived from the adjective fallen

chap-fallen, chapfallen
chop-fallen, chopfallen
crest-fallen, crestfallen
down-fallen, downfallen
fallen angel
fallen arch
fallen building clause
fallen flag
fallen fleece
fallen-in
fallen instep
fallenness
fallen-off
fallen star
fallen woman
heaven-fallen
how are the mighty fallen
infallen
jaw-fallen
new-fallen
root-fallen
sick-fallen
stitchfallen
trade-fallen
unfallen
wind-fallen, windfallen

Translations

having dropped by the force of gravity

Bulgarian: паднал (bg) (padnal)
Danish: nedfalden
Finnish: pudonnut (fi)
German: gefallen (de)
Icelandic: fallinn m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fallen
Nynorsk: fallen
Russian: упа́вший (ru) (upávšij)
Spanish: caído (es)

killed in battle

Bulgarian: загинал (bg) (zaginal)
Danish: faldet
Finnish: kaatunut (fi)
German: gefallen (de); (also) im Kampf gefallen, im Feld geblieben
Hungarian: elesett (hu)
Icelandic: fallinn m, fallinn í valinn m
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: şehîd ketin (ku)
Latin: occisus
Malay: terkorban
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fallen
Nynorsk: fallen
Russian: па́вший (ru) (pávšij)

having lost one's chastity

Bulgarian: паднал (bg) (padnal)
Danish: falden
Finnish: langennut (fi)
German: gefallen (de)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fallen
Nynorsk: fallen
Russian: па́дший (ru) (pádšij)

having collapsed

Finnish: romahtanut (fi), sortunut (fi), kaatunut (fi)
German: eingestürzt (de), eingefallen (de)
Latin: casurus (la) m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fallen
Nynorsk: fallen
Russian: упа́вший (ru) (upávšij)
Serbo-Croatian: srušen (sh) m

Noun

fallen (plural fallen)

(plural only) The dead.
(plural only) Casualties of battle or war.
(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

dead

Finnish: kuollut (fi)

casualties of battle or war

Danish: faldet
Dutch: gevallenen (nl) pl
Finnish: kaatunut (fi)
German: Gefallene (de) pl
Icelandic: valur (is) m

Catalan

Verb

fallen

third-person plural present indicative form of fallar

German

Etymology

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

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

Verb

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

(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.
(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.
(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.
(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

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

(die in a war): im Feld bleiben

Derived terms

abfallen
anfallen
auffallen
auseinanderfallen
ausfallen
aus der Rolle fallen
befallen
der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm
durchfallen
einfallen
entfallen
Fall
Fallen
Fallbeil
Fallobst
Falle
fällen
fällig
gefallen
Gefallener
Gefälle
gefällig
herfallen
herabfallen
hereinfallen
herausfallen
herunterfallen
hinabfallen
hinunterfallen
hinfallen
hinfällig
ins Gewicht fallen
in Ungnade fallen
leichtfallen
niederfallen
schwerfallen
überfallen
umfallen
verfallen
vorfallen
wegfallen
zerfallen
Zufall
zufallen
zurückfallen
zusammenfallen

Low German

Alternative forms

vallen (New Saxon Spelling)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfalːn̩/, /ˈfalːən/

Verb

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

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

Conjugation

Conjugation of fallen (class 7 strong verb)

indicative	present	preterite
infinitive	fallen
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

Alternative forms

fellen

Etymology

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

IPA^(key): /ˈfalən/

Verb

fallen

to fall

Conjugation

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	falle	—

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

English: fall
Yola: vall, vale, vole

References

“fallen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From the verb falle.

Adjective

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

fallen

Derived terms

småfallen

References

“fallen” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From the verb falle.

Adjective

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

fallen

Derived terms

småfallen

References

“fallen” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Verb

fallen

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

Swedish

Etymology

past participle of falla.

Adjective

fallen

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

Declension

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

fallen

definite plural of fall

Anagrams

fallne

fallen

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Adjective

Usage notes

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Translations

Catalan

Verb

German

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Synonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

Low German

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Descendants

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Adjective

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Adjective

Derived terms

References

Spanish

Verb

Swedish

Etymology

Adjective

Declension

Noun

Anagrams