falla

See also: Falla, fallá, fállá, fålla, and fälla

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈfa.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfa.ʎa]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *facla, contracted form of Latin facula, diminutive of fax (“torch”). Compare the borrowed doublet fàcula.

Noun

falla f (plural falles)

1. constructions of inflammable materials, based in figures that are caricatures (the ninots) that are installed in certain Valencian municipalities and are burned to ashes the day of Saint Joseph
2. the holidays around these constructions
3. the associations or organizations around these constructions
4. fire, bonfire

Derived terms

• faller
• Falles

Etymology 2

Deverbal of fallar.

Noun

falla f (plural falles)

1. fault or lack
2. (geology) fault

Related terms

• fallir
• fallar

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “falla” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “falla” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Verb

falla (third person singular past indicative fall, third person plural past indicative fullu, supine fallið)

1. to fall

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (irregular)
infinitive	falla
supine	fallið
participle (a34)1	fallandi	fallin
	present	past
first singular	falli	fall (fell)
second singular	fellur	fall/falst (fell)
third singular	fellur	fall (fell)
plural	falla	fullu
	imperative
singular	fall!
plural	fallið!
1Only the past participle being declined.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese falla (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from a Vulgar Latin *fallia, possibly through the intermediate or influence of Old French faille or Old Occitan falha. The geological sense is a more modern one from French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfaʎɐ]

Noun

falla f (plural fallas)

1. lack; shortage

   Synonym: marra

2. flaw; fail

   Synonym: eiva

3. (geology) a fault

Derived terms

• sen falla (“certainly, without fail”)

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “falla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “falla”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “falla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “falla”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “falla”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfatla/
• Rhymes: -atla

Verb

falla (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative féll, third-person plural past indicative féllu, supine fallið)

1. (intransitive) to fall
2. (intransitive) to be killed, especially in action or in battle
   • Matthew 26:52 (English and Icelandic)

     Jesús sagði við hann: „Slíðra sverð þitt! Allir, sem sverði bregða, munu fyrir sverði falla.“

     “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

3. (intransitive) to flow
4. (intransitive) to fit closely, to shut tight, to meet
5. (intransitive) to like

Conjugation

falla — active voice (germynd)

infinitive (nafnháttur)		að falla
supine (sagnbót)		fallið
present participle (lýsingarháttur nútíðar)		fallandi
	indicative (framsöguháttur)			subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur)
present (nútíð)	ég fell	við föllum	present (nútíð)	ég falli	við föllum
	þú fellur	þið fallið		þú fallir	þið fallið
	hann, hún, það fellur	þeir, þær, þau falla		hann, hún, það falli	þeir, þær, þau falli
past (þátíð)	ég féll	við féllum	past (þátíð)	ég félli	við féllum
	þú féllst	þið félluð		þú féllir	þið félluð
	hann, hún, það féll	þeir, þær, þau féllu		hann, hún, það félli	þeir, þær, þau féllu
imperative (boðháttur)	fall (þú)	fallið (þið)
	Forms with appended personal pronoun
	fallðu	falliði *
* Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

fallast — mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive (nafnháttur)		að fallast
supine (sagnbót)		fallist
present participle (lýsingarháttur nútíðar)		fallandist ** ** the mediopassive present participle is extremely rare and normally not used; it is never used attributively or predicatively, only for explicatory subclauses
	indicative (framsöguháttur)			subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur)
present (nútíð)	ég fellst	við föllumst	present (nútíð)	ég fallist	við föllumst
	þú fellst	þið fallist		þú fallist	þið fallist
	hann, hún, það fellst	þeir, þær, þau fallast		hann, hún, það fallist	þeir, þær, þau fallist
past (þátíð)	ég féllst	við féllumst	past (þátíð)	ég féllist	við féllumst
	þú féllst	þið féllust		þú féllist	þið féllust
	hann, hún, það féllst	þeir, þær, þau féllust		hann, hún, það féllist	þeir, þær, þau féllust
imperative (boðháttur)	fallst (þú)	fallist (þið)
	Forms with appended personal pronoun
	fallstu	fallisti *
* Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

fallinn — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)				plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)		masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	fallinn	fallin	fallið		fallnir	fallnar	fallin
accusative (þolfall)	fallinn	fallna	fallið		fallna	fallnar	fallin
dative (þágufall)	föllnum	fallinni	föllnu		föllnum	föllnum	föllnum
genitive (eignarfall)	fallins	fallinnar	fallins		fallinna	fallinna	fallinna
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)				plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)		masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	fallni	fallna	fallna		föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
accusative (þolfall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna		föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
dative (þágufall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna		föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
genitive (eignarfall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna		föllnu	föllnu	föllnu

Synonyms

• (fall): detta
• (be killed): vera drepinn
• (flow): streyma
• (fit closely): falla þétt að
• (like): líka

Derived terms

• falla allur ketill í eld
• falla um
• falla um koll
• falla í gleymsku
• falla vel við (to like somebody)

  Mér fellur vel við hann.

  I like him.

• falla þungt (to be grieved by something)

  Mér fellur þetta þungt.

  This grieves me.

• fallast
• fallast á
• fallast hendur
• fallinn m, fallin f, fallið n
• vera vel til fallið (to be a good idea)
• falla á prófi (to fail an exam)
• falla að (of the tide; to be coming in)
• falla frá
• falla í gjalddaga
• falla í kosningum
• falla í stafi
• falla í skaut
• falla niður
• fall
• falla eins og flís við rass

Related terms

• fella

Noun

falla n

1. indefinite genitive plural of fall

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈfˠɑl̪ˠə/

Noun

falla m (genitive singular falla, nominative plural fallaí)

1. Munster form of balla (“wall”)

Declension

Declension of falla (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative falla fallaí vocative a fhalla a fhallaí genitive falla fallaí dative falla fallaí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an falla na fallaí genitive an fhalla na bhfallaí dative leis an bhfalla don fhalla leis na fallaí

Mutation

Mutated forms of falla

radical	lenition	eclipsis
falla	fhalla	bhfalla

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “falla”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 18

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfal.la/
• Rhymes: -alla
• Hyphenation: fàl‧la

Etymology 1

Deverbal from fallare +‎ -a.

Noun

falla f (plural falle)

1. a hole, especially a leak (from a wall or a ship's keel)
2. (figurative, by extension) a reason or source of loss (of money, resources, etc.)

   tamponare le falle dell'erario

   to provisionally remedy the (financial) hemorrhaging of the treasury

3. (military) to retreat on a front of a battle, allowing enemy penetration into one's territory
4. a defect in a fabric, due to an error in the weaving process

   Synonyms: fallatura, fallo

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English fall, with influence from the lemma above.

Noun

falla f (plural falle)

1. (radio engineering) drop

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• falla¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• falla² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Maltese

Etymology

Root
f-l-j
2 terms

Probably borrowed from Italian fallire. At least Italian influence is certain, but compare Arabic فَلَّ (falla, “to go away”), with which it could theoretically have been merged. It is a fairly rare word, but very common in North Levantine Arabic, with which Maltese (though more closely related to Maghrebi dialects) shares some similarities.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfalla/

Verb

falla (imperfect jfalli)

1. to be absent

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla
		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	fallejt	fallejt	falla		fallejna	fallejtu	fallew
	f			falliet
imperfect	m	nfalli	tfalli	jfalli		nfallu	tfallu	jfallu
	f			tfalli
imperative			falli				fallu

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• fallene

Noun

falla n

1. definite plural of fall

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

falla

1. definite plural of fall

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falla (present tense fell, past tense fall, past participle falle, passive infinitive fallast, present participle fallande, imperative fall)

1. Alternative form of falle

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-. Akin to Old English feallan (whence English fall), Old Frisian falla (whence West Frisian falle), Old Saxon fallan (whence Low German fallen), Old Dutch fallan (whence Dutch vallen), Old High German fallan (whence German fallen).

Verb

falla (singular past indicative fell, plural past indicative fellu, past participle fallinn)

1. to fall

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla — active (strong class 7)

infinitive	falla
present participle	fallandi
past participle	fallinn
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	fell	fell
2nd-person singular	fellr	fellt
3rd-person singular	fellr	fell
1st-person plural	fǫllum	fellum
2nd-person plural	fallið	felluð
3rd-person plural	falla	fellu
subjunctive	present	past
1st-person singular	falla	fella
2nd-person singular	fallir	fellir
3rd-person singular	falli	felli
1st-person plural	fallim	fellim
2nd-person plural	fallið	fellið
3rd-person plural	falli	felli
imperative	present
2nd-person singular	fall
1st-person plural	fǫllum
2nd-person plural	fallið

Conjugation of falla — mediopassive (strong class 7)

infinitive	fallask
present participle	fallandisk
past participle	fallizk
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	fǫllumk	fellumk
2nd-person singular	felsk	fellzk
3rd-person singular	felsk	fellsk
1st-person plural	fǫllumsk	fellumsk
2nd-person plural	fallizk	felluzk
3rd-person plural	fallask	fellusk
subjunctive	present	past
1st-person singular	fǫllumk	fellumk
2nd-person singular	fallisk	fellisk
3rd-person singular	fallisk	fellisk
1st-person plural	fallimsk	fellimsk
2nd-person plural	fallizk	fellizk
3rd-person plural	fallisk	fellisk
imperative	present
2nd-person singular	falsk
1st-person plural	fǫllumsk
2nd-person plural	fallizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: falla
• Faroese: falla
• Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: falle
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: falla, falle
• Elfdalian: folla
• Old Swedish: falla
  • Swedish: falla
• Old Danish: fallæ
  • Danish: falde
  • Scanian: falða
• Gutnish: falle

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Verb

falla

1. to fall

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (strong)

	present			past
infinitive	falla			—
participle	fallandi, fallande			fallin
active voice	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
iæk	falder	falli, falle	—	fiol	fiolli, fiolle
þū	falder	falli, falle	fal	fiolt	fiolli, fiolle
han	falder	falli, falle	—	fiol	fiolli, fiolle
vīr	fallum, fallom	fallum, fallom	fallum, fallom	fiollum, fiollom	fiollum, fiollom
īr	fallin	fallin	fallin	fiollin	fiollin
þēr	falla	fallin	—	fiollu, fiollo	fiollin
mediopassive voice	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
iæk	—	—	—	—	—
þū	—	—	—	—	—
han	—	—	—	—	—
vīr	—	—	—	—	—
īr	—	—	—	—	—
þēr	—	—	—	—	—

Descendants

• Swedish: falla

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Noun

falla f (plural fallas)

1. Obsolete spelling of fala.

Verb

falla

1. Obsolete spelling of fala.

Etymology 2

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Sotho

Verb

falla

1. to emigrate

Spanish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaʝa/ [ˈfa.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /ˈfaʝa/ [ˈfa.ʝa]
• IPA^(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines) /ˈfaʎa/ [ˈfa.ʎa]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈfaʃa/ [ˈfa.ʃa]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈfaʒa/ [ˈfa.ʒa]

 

• Rhymes: -aʝa

• Rhymes: -aʝa
• Rhymes: -aʎa
• Rhymes: -aʃa
• Rhymes: -aʒa

• Syllabification: fa‧lla

Etymology 1

Likely from Catalan falla, with the geological sense from French faille.

Noun

falla f (plural fallas)

1. flaw
2. failure
3. outage, such as a blackout
4. (geology) fault

Related terms

• fallar

 

Etymology 2

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative
2. inflection of fallir:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

References

• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “fallir”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 845

Further reading

• “falla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish falla, from Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂p-h₃elh₁-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²falːa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

falla (present faller, preterite föll, supine fallit, imperative fall)

1. to fall

   falla genom luften

   fall through the air

   falla till backen

   fall to the ground

   Glaset föll i golvet

   The glass fell to the floor (i (“in”) as opposed to till (“to”) puts more focus on the impact and often implies an accidental fall – can be thought of as a generalization of "fall in the water" and the like)

2. to fall (die, especially in battle)

   Synonym: stupa

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (class 7 strong)

	Active		Passive
Infinitive	falla		—
Supine	fallit		—
Imperative	fall		—
Imper. plural1	fallen		—
	Present	Past	Present	Past
Indicative	faller	föll	—	—
Ind. plural1	falla	föllo	—	—
Subjunctive2	falle	fölle	—	—
	Participles
Present participle	fallande
Past participle	fallen
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Derived terms

• anbefalla
• anfalla
• avfalla
• befalla
• bifalla
• bortfalla
• bönfalla
• falla mellan två stolar
• falla på
• falla på läppen
• falla på målsnöret
• falla på sin egen orimlighet
• falla till föga
• förefalla
• förfalla
• hemfalla
• infalla
• knäfalla
• sammanfalla
• sönderfalla
• tillfalla
• undfalla
• utfalla
• återfalla
• överfalla

 

Related terms

• fälla

See also

• trilla

References

• falla in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• falla in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• falla in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)