falla

See also: Falla, fallá, fállá, fålla, and fälla

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ˈfa.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈfa.ʎa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *facla, contracted form of Latin facula, diminutive of fax (“torch”). Compare the borrowed doublet fàcula.

Noun

falla f (plural falles)

1. constructions of inflammable materials, based in figures that are caricatures (the ninots) that are installed in certain Valencian municipalities and are burned to ashes the day of Saint Joseph
2. the holidays around these constructions
3. the associations or organizations around these constructions
4. fire, bonfire

Derived terms

• faller
• Falles

Etymology 2

Deverbal of fallar.

Noun

falla f (plural falles)

1. fault or lack
2. (geology) fault

Related terms

• fallir
• fallar

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “falla”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “falla”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish fallar (“to fail”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faˈʎa/ [fa.ˈʎa]
• Hyphenation: fa‧lla

Verb

fallá

1. to fail; to malfunction (of a motor, engine, etc.)

Conjugation

Verb conjugation for falla

	Zamboanga City	Cavite
tense	falla
past	ya falla
present	ta falla
future	ay falla; falla; el falla; (rural/archaic) ey falla	di falla
gerund	fallando	?
past participle	fallao; fallado
infinitive	falla
manner	fallada
reciprocal	fallahan
reciprocal past	ya man fallahan; ya'n fallahan
reciprocal present	ta man fallahan; ta'n fallahan
reciprocal future	ay man fallahan; man fallahan; el man fallahan; (rural/archaic) ey man fallahan
reciprocal infinitive	man fallahan

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Verb

falla (third person singular past indicative fall, third person plural past indicative fullu, supine fallið)

1. to fall

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (irregular)

infinitive	falla
supine	fallið
	present	past
first singular	falli	fall (fell)
second singular	fellur	fall/falst (fell)
third singular	fellur	fall (fell)
plural	falla	fullu
participle (a34)1	fallandi	fallin
	imperative
singular	fall!
plural	fallið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese falla (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from a Vulgar Latin *fallia, possibly through the intermediate or influence of Old French faille or Old Occitan falha. The geological sense is a more modern one from French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfaʎɐ]

Noun

falla f (plural fallas)

1. lack; shortage

   Synonym: marra

2. flaw; fail

   Synonym: eiva

3. (geology) a fault

Derived terms

• sen falla (“certainly, without fail”)

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “falla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “falla”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “falla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “falla”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “falla”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfatla]
• Rhymes: -atla

Etymology 1

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Verb

falla (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative féll, third-person plural past indicative féllu, supine fallið)

1. (intransitive) to fall

   Synonym: detta

2. (intransitive) to be killed, especially in action or in battle

   Synonym: vera drepinn

   • Matthew 26:52 (English and Icelandic)

     Jesús sagði við hann: „Slíðra sverð þitt! Allir, sem sverði bregða, munu fyrir sverði falla.“

     “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

3. (intransitive) to flow

   Synonym: streyma

4. (intransitive) to fit closely, to shut tight, to meet

   Synonym: falla þétt að

5. (intransitive) to like

   Synonym: líka

Conjugation

falla – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að falla
supine sagnbót		fallið
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		fallandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	fell	féll		falli	félli
	þú	fellur	féllst		fallir	féllir
	hann, hún, það	fellur	féll		falli	félli
plural	við	föllum	féllum		föllum	féllum
	þið	fallið	félluð		fallið	félluð
	þeir, þær, þau	falla	féllu		falli	féllu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	fall (þú), fallðu
plural	þið	fallið (þið), falliði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

fallast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að fallast
supine sagnbót		fallist
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		fallandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	fellst	féllst		fallist	féllist
	þú	fellst	féllst		fallist	féllist
	hann, hún, það	fellst	féllst		fallist	féllist
plural	við	föllumst	féllumst		föllumst	féllumst
	þið	fallist	féllust		fallist	féllust
	þeir, þær, þau	fallast	féllust		fallist	féllust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	fallst (þú), fallstu
plural	þið	fallist (þið), fallisti1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

fallinn — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	fallinn	fallin	fallið	fallnir	fallnar	fallin
accusative (þolfall)	fallinn	fallna	fallið	fallna	fallnar	fallin
dative (þágufall)	föllnum	fallinni	föllnu	föllnum	föllnum	föllnum
genitive (eignarfall)	fallins	fallinnar	fallins	fallinna	fallinna	fallinna
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	fallni	fallna	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
accusative (þolfall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
dative (þágufall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
genitive (eignarfall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu

Derived terms

• falla allur ketill í eld
• falla um
• falla um koll
• falla í gleymsku
• falla vel við (“to like someone”)

  Mér fellur vel við hann. ― I like him.

• falla þungt (“to be grieved by something”)

  Mér fellur þetta þungt. ― This grieves me.

• fallast
• fallast á
• fallast hendur
• fallinn
• vera vel til fallið (“to be a good idea”)
• falla á prófi (“to fail an exam”)
• falla að (“of the tide; to be coming in”)
• falla frá
• falla í gjalddaga
• falla í kosningum
• falla í stafi
• falla í skaut
• falla niður
• fall
• falla eins og flís við rass

Related terms

• fella

Etymology 2

Noun

falla n

1. indefinite genitive plural of fall

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈfˠɑl̪ˠə/

Noun

falla m (genitive singular falla, nominative plural fallaí)

1. Munster form of balla (“wall”)

Declension

Declension of falla (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative falla fallaí vocative a fhalla a fhallaí genitive falla fallaí dative falla fallaí forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an falla na fallaí genitive an fhalla na bhfallaí dative leis an bhfalla don fhalla leis na fallaí

Mutation

Mutated forms of falla

radical	lenition	eclipsis
falla	fhalla	bhfalla

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “falla”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 18

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfal.la/
• Rhymes: -alla
• Hyphenation: fàl‧la

Etymology 1

Deverbal from fallare +‎ -a.

Noun

falla f (plural falle)

1. a hole, especially a leak (from a wall or a ship's keel)
2. (figurative, by extension) a reason or source of loss (of money, resources, etc.)

   tamponare le falle dell'erario

   to provisionally remedy the (financial) hemorrhaging of the treasury

3. (military) to retreat on a front of a battle, allowing enemy penetration into one's territory
4. a defect in a fabric, due to an error in the weaving process

   Synonyms: fallatura, fallo

Further reading

• “falla¹”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English fall, with influence from the lemma above.

Noun

falla f (plural falle) (radio engineering)

1. drop

Further reading

• “falla²”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 4

From fa' +‎ -la.

Verb

falla

1. compound of fa', the second-person singular imperative form of fare, with la

Related terms

• farla

Maltese

Root
f-l-j
2 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfal.la/
• Rhymes: -alla

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)gʷʰh₂el-der.

Proto-Italic *falsō?

Classical Latin fallere

Vulgar Latin *fallīre

Italian fallirebor.

Sicilian fallari / falliribor.

Maltese falla

Borrowed from Italian fallire and/or Sicilian fallari / falliri.

Verb

falla (imperfect jfalli, past participle mfalli or fallut, verbal noun fallar)

1. (intransitive) to go bankrupt
2. (transitive) to bankrupt (to force into bankruptcy)
3. (transitive, intransitive) to be absent, to fail to attend
4. (intransitive) to fail
   1. (by extension, intransitive, of animals) to fail to conceive
   2. (by extension, intransitive, of guns) to misfire

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (Form II, final-weak)

positive forms
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	fallejt	fallejt	falla	fallejna	fallejtu	fallew
	f			falliet
imperfect	m	nfalli	tfalli	jfalli	nfallu	tfallu	jfallu
	f			tfalli
imperative			falli			fallu
negative forms
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	fallejtx	fallejtx	falliex	fallejniex	fallejtux	fallewx
	f			fallietx
imperfect	m	nfallix	tfallix	jfallix	nfallux	tfallux	jfallux
	f			tfallix
imperative			tfallix			tfallux

Etymology 2

Noun

falla f (plural falli)

1. (Munxar) mistake, indiscretion
2. (nautical) leak (crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape)

Related terms

• fallibbli
• falliment
• fallimentari
• falluta
• infallibbli
• infallibilità
• infallibilment

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• fallene

Noun

falla n

1. definite plural of fall

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

falla

1. definite plural of fall

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falla (present tense fell, past tense fall, past participle falle, passive infinitive fallast, present participle fallande, imperative fall)

1. alternative form of falle

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-. Akin to Old English feallan (whence English fall), Old Frisian falla (whence West Frisian falle), Old Saxon fallan (whence Low German fallen), Old Dutch fallan (whence Dutch vallen), Old High German fallan (whence German fallen).

Verb

falla (singular past indicative fell, plural past indicative fellu, past participle fallinn)

1. to fall

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla — active (strong class 7)

infinitive	falla
present participle	fallandi
past participle	fallinn
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	fell	fell		falla	fella
2nd person singular	fellr	fellt		fallir	fellir
3rd person singular	fellr	fell		falli	felli
1st person plural	fǫllum	fellum		fallim	fellim
2nd person plural	fallið	felluð		fallið	fellið
3rd person plural	falla	fellu		falli	felli
imperative	present
2nd person singular	fall
1st person plural	fǫllum
2nd person plural	fallið

Conjugation of falla — mediopassive (strong class 7)

infinitive	fallask
present participle	fallandisk
past participle	fallizk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	fǫllumk	fellumk		fǫllumk	fellumk
2nd person singular	felsk	fellzk		fallisk	fellisk
3rd person singular	felsk	fellsk		fallisk	fellisk
1st person plural	fǫllumsk	fellumsk		fallimsk	fellimsk
2nd person plural	fallizk	felluzk		fallizk	fellizk
3rd person plural	fallask	fellusk		fallisk	fellisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	falsk
1st person plural	fǫllumsk
2nd person plural	fallizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: falla
• Faroese: falla
• Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: falle
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: falla, falle
• Elfdalian: folla
• Old Swedish: falla
  • Swedish: falla
• Old Danish: fallæ
  • Danish: falde
  • Scanian: falða
• Gutnish: falle

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Verb

falla

1. to fall

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (strong)

	present				past
infinitive	falla				—
participle	fallandi, fallande				fallin
active voice	indicative	subjunctive	imperative		indicative	subjunctive
iæk	falder	falli, falle	—		fiol	fiolli, fiolle
þū	falder	falli, falle	fal		fiolt	fiolli, fiolle
han	falder	falli, falle	—		fiol	fiolli, fiolle
vīr	fallum, fallom	fallum, fallom	fallum, fallom		fiollum, fiollom	fiollum, fiollom
īr	fallin	fallin	fallin		fiollin	fiollin
þēr	falla	fallin	—		fiollu, fiollo	fiollin
mediopassive voice	indicative	subjunctive	imperative		indicative	subjunctive
iæk	—	—	—		—	—
þū	—	—	—		—	—
han	—	—	—		—	—
vīr	—	—	—		—	—
īr	—	—	—		—	—
þēr	—	—	—		—	—

Descendants

• Swedish: falla

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Noun

falla f (plural fallas)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of fala

Etymology 2

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Sotho

Verb

falla

1. to emigrate

Spanish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaʝa/ [ˈfa.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaʝa/ [ˈfa.ʝa] (Spain, most of Latin America, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /ˈfaʎa/ [ˈfa.ʎa] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /ˈfaʃa/ [ˈfa.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈfaʒa/ [ˈfa.ʒa] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈfaja/ [ˈfa.ja] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

 

• Rhymes: -aʝa

• Rhymes: -aʝa (Spain, most of Latin America, Equatorial Guinea)
• Rhymes: -aʎa (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -aʒa (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -aja (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: fa‧lla

Etymology 1

Likely from Catalan falla, with the geological sense from French faille.

Noun

falla f (plural fallas)

1. flaw
2. failure
3. outage, such as a blackout
4. (geology) fault

Related terms

• fallar

Etymology 2

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative
2. inflection of fallir:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

References

• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “fallir”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[1] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 845

Further reading

• “falla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish falla, from Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂p-h₃elh₁-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²falːa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

falla (present faller, preterite föll, supine fallit, imperative fall)

1. to fall

   falla genom luften

   fall through the air

   falla till backen

   fall to the ground

   Glaset föll i golvet

   The glass fell to the floor (i (“in”) as opposed to till (“to”) puts more focus on the impact and often implies an accidental fall – can be thought of as a generalization of "fall in the water" and the like)

2. to fall (die, especially in battle)

   Synonym: stupa

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (class 7 strong)

	active		passive
infinitive	falla		—
supine	fallit		—
imperative	fall		—
imper. plural1	fallen		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	faller	föll	—	—
ind. plural1	falla	föllo	—	—
subjunctive2	falle	fölle	—	—
present participle		fallande
past participle		fallen

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Derived terms

• anbefalla
• anfalla
• avfalla
• befalla
• bifalla
• bortfalla
• bönfalla
• falla mellan två stolar
• falla på
• falla på läppen
• falla på målsnöret
• falla på sin egen orimlighet
• falla till föga
• förefalla
• förfalla
• hemfalla
• infalla
• knäfalla
• sammanfalla
• sönderfalla
• tillfalla
• undfalla
• utfalla
• återfalla
• överfalla

Related terms

• fälla

See also

• trilla

References

• “falla”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “falla”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “falla”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)