Fall
Old English fallan, feallan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vallen and German fallen ; the noun is partly from the verb, partly from Old Norse fall ‘downfall, sin’.
wiktionary
Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan(“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan(“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną(“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl-.
Cognate with West Frisian falle(“to fall”), Low German fallen(“to fall”), Dutch vallen(“to fall”), German fallen(“to fall”), Danish falde(“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle(“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla(“to fall”), Icelandic falla(“to fall”), Albanian fal(“forgive, pray, salute, greet”), Lithuanian pùlti(“to attack, rush”).
Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall(“a falling, fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz(“a fall, trap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl-. Cognate with Dutch val, German Fall, Danish fald, Swedish fall, Icelandic fall.
Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of Middle English fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.
Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation of whale.
etymonline
fall (v.)
Old English feallan (class VII strong verb; past tense feoll, past participle feallen) "to drop from a height; fail, decay, die," from Proto-Germanic *fallanan (source also of Old Frisian falla, Old Saxon fallan, Dutch vallen, Old Norse falla, Old High German fallan, German fallen, absent in Gothic).
These are from PIE root *pol- "to fall" (source also of Armenian p'ul "downfall," Lithuanian puolu, pulti "to fall," Old Prussian aupallai "finds," literally "falls upon").
Meaning "come suddenly to the ground" is from late Old English. Of darkness, night, from c. 1600; of land sloping from 1570s; of prices from 1570s. Of empires, governments, etc., from c. 1200. Of the face or countenance from late 14c. Meaning "to be reduced" (as temperature) is from 1650s. Meaning "die in battle" is from 1570s. Meaning "to pass casually (into some condition)" is from early 13c.
To fall in "take place or position" is from 1751. To fall in love is attested from 1520s; to fall asleep is late 14c. To fall down is early 13c. (a-dun follon); to fall behind is from 1856. Fall through "fail, come to nothing" is from 1781. To fall for something is from 1903.
To fall out is by mid-13c. in a literal sense; military use is from 1832. Meaning "have a disagreement, begin to quarrel" is attested from 1560s (to fall out with "quarrel with" is from late 15c.).
fall (n.)
c. 1200, "a falling to the ground; a dropping from a height, a descent from a higher to a lower position (as by gravity); a collapsing of a building," from Proto-Germanic *falliz, from the source of fall (v.). Old English noun fealle meant "snare, trap."
Of the coming of night from 1650s. Meaning "downward direction of a surface" is from 1560s, of a value from 1550s. Theological sense, "a succumbing to sin or temptation" (especially of Adam and Eve) is from early 13c.
The sense of "autumn" (now only in U.S. but formerly common in England) is by 1660s, short for fall of the leaf (1540s). Meaning "cascade, waterfall" is from 1570s (often plural, falls, when the descent is in stages; fall of water is attested from mid-15c.). The wrestling sense is from 1550s. Of a city under siege, etc., 1580s. Fall guy is attested by 1906.
