Befeallan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An Old English verb meaning to happen to someone or come upon them ; to fall on or attack something or someone
2. A archaic verb for something that comes upon a person by chance ; a verb for falling onto or assailing a target
3. Old English term describing an event that overtakes someone ; a verb meaning to strike down upon or assault another

Etymology: Old English "befeallan" combined "be-", a prefix meaning "about" or "upon", with "feallan", "to fall." Its earliest sense was physical: to fall upon something, or to drop onto someone, sometimes in attack. The modern sense of something happening to a person likely grew from that image of misfortune or fate coming down on you from above. The word descends unbroken from Old English, so its roots are native Germanic rather than borrowed from Latin or French. The "fall" in it is the same verb behind English "fall" and German "fallen."