befell

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 befell word

verb without object befell to happen or occur. 1
verb without object befell Archaic. to come, as by right. 1
verb with object befell to happen to, especially by chance or fate. 1
noun befell Simple past form of befall. 1
verb befell simple past tense of befall. 0

See all 5 definitions of befell

Information block about the term

Origin of befell

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 Befell

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Befell

befell 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 54% 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.

befell usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for befell

verb befell

came — Came is the past tense of come.
coincided — to occupy the same place in space, the same point or period in time, or the same relative position: The centers of concentric circles coincide. Our vacations coincided this year.
ensued — Simple past tense and past participle of ensue.
eventuated — Simple past tense and past participle of eventuate.
gelled — Physical Chemistry. a semirigid colloidal dispersion of a solid with a liquid or gas, as jelly, glue, etc.

All 10 Synonyms of befell