Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “fals” come from?

fals (Middle English) comes from Old English fals, from Latin falsus, from Latin fallō, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- — to bend; to lie, deceive.

fals (Middle English): false

Definitions

  1. false

Ancestry of “fals”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishfalsfalsehood, fraud, counterfeit; false
2Latinfalsusdeceived, tricked, cheated, disappointed, having...
3Latinfallō—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰwel-to bend; to lie, deceive

Words derived from “fals”

  • 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
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- →