Where does “rainfall” come from?
Rainfall is a English compound of rain and fall, with fall deriving from Proto-Germanic fallaną and ultimately Proto-Indo-European wel-, meaning to turn or roll.
rainfall (English): the amount of rain that falls on a single...
Definitions
- the amount of rain that falls on a single...
Ancestry of “rainfall”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | rain | Condensed water falling from a cloud; Any matter... |
| 2 | Middle English | reyn | — |
| 3 | Old English | reġn | rain |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | regn | rain |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | regną | rain |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | Hreǵ- | to flow |
Words derived from “rainfall”