befallen

be·fall

B b

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [bih-fawl]
- /bɪˈfɔl/
- /bɪˈfɔːl/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [bih-fawl]
- /bɪˈfɔl/

Definitions of befallen word

verb without object befallen to happen or occur. 1
verb without object befallen Archaic. to come, as by right. 1
verb with object befallen to happen to, especially by chance or fate. 1
noun befallen Past participle of befall. 1

See all 4 definitions of befallen

Information block about the term

Origin of befallen

First appearance:

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; Middle English befallen, Old English befeallan. See be-, fall (v.)

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Befallen

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Befallen

befallen popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 79% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

According to our data about 59% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

befallen usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer