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Befall

//bɪˈfɔl// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Case; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident.

    "Or he had tolde al his befall."

Verb
  1. 1
    To fall upon; fall all over; overtake. transitive

    "At dusk an unusual calm befalls the wetlands."

  2. 2
    happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance wordnet
  3. 3
    To happen. intransitive

    "It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon [...] that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time."

  4. 4
    become of; happen to wordnet
  5. 5
    To happen to. transitive

    "Temptation befell me."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    To fall. intransitive, obsolete

    "With a thought I tooke for Maudline & a cruse of cockle pottage. with a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all: I befell into this dotage."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-West Germanic *bifallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall.

Etymology 2

From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-West Germanic *bifallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall.

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