Where does “befalling” come from?
befalling (English) comes from English befall, from Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Old English be-, from Old English hrōpan, from Proto-West Germanic hrōpan, from Proto-Germanic hrōpaną, from Proto-Indo-European ḱer- — army.
befalling (English): A happening; occurrence; chance; event
Definitions
- A happening; occurrence; chance; event
Ancestry of “befalling”, step by step
befalling traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English befall
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | befall | To fall upon; fall all over; overtake; To happen;... |
| 2 | Middle English | bifallen | to befall, happen |
| 3 | Old English | befeallan | to fall, fall to or upon; befall; to fall off; be... |
| 4 | Old English | be- | a productive prefix usually used to form verbs... |
| 5 | Old English | hrōpan | to shout, proclaim; cry out, scream, howl; to cry... |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | hrōpan | to cry out, to call, to shout |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | hrōpaną | to cry out, call, shout |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |
via English ing
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ing | A meadow, especially a low meadow near a river;... |
| 2 | Middle English | ing | — |
| 3 | Old English | ing | meadow, water meadow, ing |
| 4 | Old Norse | eng | meadow |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | angijō | A low lying meadow in a valley or near a river |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énkos | curve, bend |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |