Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “false” come from?

False comes from Middle English false, from Latin falsus, the past participle of fallo, meaning to deceive or fail, from Proto-Italic falsō.

false (English): Untrue, not factual, factually incorrect; Based...

Definitions

  1. Untrue, not factual, factually incorrect; Based...

Ancestry of “false”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanfalschfalse, unfactual, untrue; wrong; fake, forged
2Italianfalsofalse; sham; forgery
3Polishfałszywyfalse
4Polishfałszdeceitfulness, phoniness; falsehood, falsity
5Middle High Germanvalsch—
6Latinfalsusdeceived, tricked, cheated, disappointed, having...
7Latinfallō—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰwel-to bend; to lie, deceive

Words derived from “false”

  • falsely
  • falsification
  • falseness
  • falsificationism
  • falsework
  • falsificationist
  • falsed
  • falsing
  • falsen
  • falsie
  • falsism
  • falsy
  • falseface
  • superfalse
  • unfalse
  • falsecard
  • nonfalse
  • falsiness
  • falseful
  • falsefully
  • falsening
  • falsish
  • false killer whale
  • falsificationisme
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- →