Fallen
/ˈfɔːlən/noun
Having dropped or descended from a higher position, or having lost a former state of grace, rank, or purity.
Did you know?In Old English, the ancestor of *fallen* was used for literal falling, but the same Germanic root also powers words like *field* and *fallow*, showing how ancient languages linked collapse, open land, and lying low.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pel-
“to fall, strike, or thrust down”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*fallaną
“to fall, drop”
Old English
OE
feallan
“to fall, collapse, perish”
Middle English
ME
fallen
“to fall; to have fallen”
Modern English
English
fallen
“having fallen; dropped or descended”