Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

onfall

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: on-fall
IPA

9

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A falling on or upon; an attack, onset, or assault.

noun

A fall of rain or snow.

noun

The fall of the evening.

verb

To fall on or upon.

Transitive verb

verb

To assault, attack.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Are we to have military onfall; and death also by starvation?"
"The onfall of the bishops had helped to wreck this possibility, [...]"
"Along with your 'brethren, Get ready your scaling ladders, And your engines of onfall and assault, To attack the walls of Khung."
"Six great land battles I count, with four upon the sea, and seven-and-fifty onfalls, skirmishes and bushments."
"[...] have been formed and ripened in large numbers, especially on the shaded ower sides of the leaves, the mycelium is practically exhausted, and as these processes are completed towards the end of the summer, the leaf so onfalls."
"'the temple caught fire from the onfallen lightning' [...]"

Etymology

From Middle English onfal, onfalle, equivalent to on- + fall. Cognate with Dutch aanval (“an attack, assault”), German Anfall (“an attack, seizure, fit”), Swedish anfall (“an attack, offensive, assault”). Compare also Middle English onfallynge (“an onslaught, attack”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Prefix: on
Root: onfal

Usage

Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

onfalls (plural) onfalls (present, singular) onfalling (participle, present) onfell (past) onfallen (participle, past)

Questions

What does onfall mean?: A falling on or upon; an attack, onset, or assault.
Where does onfall come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce onfall

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