what is the origin of fall?

Answer 1

I assume you are asking when/why the season of the year came to be called "fall", and perhaps why Americans often use this term while the British say "autumn" (sometimes framed as "Why did the Americans 'change' it to 'fall'?")

Until Modern English the season was usually called "Harvest" (a good Germanic sort of word -- many Germanic languages still use a relative, such as the German "Herbst").

In Middle English -- Chaucer in 1374 made use of "Autumn", borrowed from French [originally from Latin], but it did not yet replace "Harvest" as *the* word for the season.

In early Modern English (the 1500s) the word "Fall" begins to be used (obviously with reference to the falling of leaves). This, of course, is BEFORE the British American colonies were founded.

Thus the American colonists of the 1600s brought the word "Fall" to them from England. Later, after the period of colonial settlement, "Autumn" became the favored word in England, and "Fall" died out.

In America, on the other hand, "Autumn" is used alongside "Fall", though the preferences may vary by regions. Note that the main features of the four original regional dialects of American English reflect the dialectal differences of the regions of England from which the four great migrations of the colonial period came. Very likely the American regional preferences for "Fall" and "Autumn" tell us something about which word was dominant in the regions each migration stemmed from.

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(Note that MANY British-American differences are accounted for this way -- either BOTH versions were being used in Britain in the 17th-18th centuries and different ones 'won out' on each side of the Atlantic, or the American form was actually THE standard form during this period, and British English subsequently changed. The assumption that Americans "changed" the British forms or words is often mistaken.)
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Incidentally, it is this LATE origin of both "autumn" and "fall" that accounts for the fact that these terms do not add the Germanic ending "-time" to refer to the season, as the other old Germanic names can. Thus we may hear 'springtime','summertime' and 'wintertimre, but no such expression exists for the autumn/fall... though it IS still sometimes called 'harvestime' or 'harvest time'!

Answer 2

If you mean the "fall of man" then that would be part of the creation myth of the Jews, Muslims and Christians. It started in Sumer at the earliest stages of human development into an agricultural society (the "Garden" story goes back at least 6,000 years). It was picked up by the early Hebrew tribes who worshiped a war god named Yahweh. They passed it on to Christianity and Islam. Other "fall" stories exist, but none have been so powerful than the ones coming out of Mesopotamia through these religious mythologies.

Answer 3

u mean the season? well, i'm not sure, but i've always learned during fall, the leaves fall and u fall back (time change)!

Answer 4

It is really called autumn, but due to the falling of leaves, we call it fall.

Answer 5

the season or the adj? adj is season. season is the falling of leaves.

Answer 6

summer

Answer 7

Rain and snow.

Answer 8

are you referring to SEASON?

Answer 9

what do u mean