Middle English Dictionary Entry
falling ppl.
Entry Info
| Forms | falling ppl. |
| Etymology | From fallen . |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Falling, dropping; decreasing, degenerating; (b) the fallinge, those who fall or transgress; (c) transitory; (d) astron. declining; (e) med. falling ayain, recurring.
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.MQuad.(Hrl 6258B)12/19 : Wið feallendum fexe.
- (c1384) WBible(1) (Roy 1.B.6)Jude 2.13 : Erringe sterres [sidera errantia], or fallinge doun.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)302a/a : Þe grece of a bere helpeþ aȝeins fallyng heer.
- a1425(c1385) Chaucer TC (Benson-Robinson)2.1382 : Whan that the stordy ook..Receyved hath the happy fallyng strook.
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)30a/b : Gelicidium: fallynge forste.
- (c1454) Pecock Fol.(Roy 17.D.9)37/11 : For þe taking of suche fallyng morcels y was oft bifore beete.
- (c1454) Pecock Fol.(Roy 17.D.9)91/39 : My vertuose loue toward god may haue a vice in þe fallyng side, with which y may loue him lasse þan y-nouȝ.
- (a1475) Fortescue Dial.UF (Vit E.10)486 : For synne is so fowle, and of so fallyng a condicion, that it draweth unto hym mysery.
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)44a : Fallyng: caducus, cadabundus, cadans, deciduus, occiduus.
b
- c1350 MPPsalter (Add 17376)29.3 : Þou..sauedest me fram þe falland into synne.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)27581 : Þe standand fall, þe falland rise.
c
- c1225(?c1200) SWard (Bod 34)20/192 : Forte ȝeme lutel alle fallinde þing & witen warliche þeo þe schulen a lesten.
- a1500(c1340) Rolle Psalter (UC 64)2.9 : In this wand, noght bresil ne falland, bot stalworth and lastand.
d
- c1400 *Chaucer Astr.(Brussels 4869)[2.4] 86a : The planete is fallinge [vr. failling] fro the ascendent.
e
- ?a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)83b/a : Þai [ulcers] ar o disposicioun playne, often tymez closand & residiuant .i. fallyng agayne.
2.
Combs.: (a) falling bord, a drop leaf; (b) ~ disese, ~ ivel, epilepsy; also fig.; (c) ~ dore, a trap door; (d) ~ goute, epilepsy [see du Cange: gutta cadiva, gutta caduca]; ?also, a kind of dropsy; (e) ~ hous, any one of the four zodiacal 'houses' Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces; (f) ~ turn, a fall to the ground made by a wrestler in an attempt to trick his antagonist.
Associated quotations
a
- (1423) Doc.Brewer in Bk.Lond.E.174 : Ij garnettes to þe Fallynge bordes atte dores of þe pantrie and botrie.
b
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)47a : Fallinde uuel ich cleopie licomes secnesse..hwer þurh hire þunche þet ha falle duneward of hali hehnesse.
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)6.39 : Þis Machometus..for he hadde ofte þe fallynge evel [vr. vallyng evel; L morbum epilepticum], he fel doun ofte to grounde.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)82a/a : Oþir auctours clepiþ þe fallinge euel epilencia.
- c1425 Found.St.Barth.47/5 : The fallynge evill..is a syknes that compressith the ventriclis and the weys of the brayne, lettyng the operacion of the wyttis..and werith all the body with an harde passioun.
- c1450 Burg.Practica (Rwl D.251)235/2 : For þe gowte þat takyt a man in þe hed or yn þe wombe, as it were þe fallyng euyll.
- ?c1450 Stockh.PRecipes (Stockh 10.90)106/31 : For þe gowte gayue, .i. fallynge ewyll.
c
- c1300 SLeg.(LdMisc 108)460/131 : On-ouewarde þe fallinde dore..A stronge ȝwuchche of Ire he liet maken.
d
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)11831 : Þe falland gute [Trin-C: fallyng euel] he had emell.
- ?c1450 Iff a man (Add 17866)910 : For þe fallande goute.
e
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)109a/b : Some signe beþ I clepid domus cadentes ab angulis, fallinge fro angulis, as gemini, virgo, sagittarius, piscis.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)109a/b : Þe oþir signes beþ I clepid domus cadentes, fallynge houses.
f
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)76b : Þohte ure lauerd..Ich schal do..þe turn of eadmodnesse, þet is þe fallinde turn, & feol from heouene to eorðe.
- c1300 SLeg.Mich.(LdMisc 108)176 : He [Lucifer] pleyde with þe fallingue tourn.
- a1400 Ancr.Recl.(Pep 2498)134/9 : And oure lorde streiȝtte hym so lowe by þe erþe þat þe fende ne knew hym nouȝth, & þat is cleped þe fallande turne.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.103va (3.16) : 'Gutta'..bredeth..moste in þe ioyntoures..it is callede 'gutta,' for also mykel os it is causede of wickede humores guttand, i. seweand and faileand, litil & litle into þo places and þo parties in þe body.
Note: New spelling: faileand. Regarding seweand and faileand, Harvey & Tavormina note: Glossing guttand, this doublet must have the general sense of 'dripping, falling in drops.' More narrowly, seweand is probably a form of seuen 'to follow,' in the sense of following a path (through the body), and faileand is likely to be a variant spelling for falland 'falling.' Alpha variants..offer a fuller and clearer version of the gloss: guttyng i. (var. and) droppynge & sewyng & fallyng.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1275 Louerd asse þu ard (Trin-C B.14.39)237 : To rome eft he was brout; he was in perlesie þe vallinde & spitil uuel feme & dropesie Abroken & def & blint ginke & sqinancie Scabbede on þe menison fur of helle deuerie mo uueles he hede þen i conne tellen.
Note: New spelling