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Q&A How does "happening" appertain to "(be)falling"?

I don't understand why English and Latin (see the two quotations below) uses the notion of "(be)fall" to signify "happening". How are they related semantically? accident [14] Etymologically, an...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by PSTH‭

Question etymology
#2: Post edited by user avatar PSTH‭ · 2021-11-13T15:22:26Z (almost 3 years ago)
  • I don't understand why English and Latin (see the two quotations below) uses the notion of "(be)fall" to signify "happening". How are they related semantically?
  • >### accident [14]
  • >Etymologically, an accident is
  • simply ‘something which happens’ – ‘an event’.
  • That was what the word originally meant in
  • English, and it was only subsequently that the
  • senses ‘something which happens by chance’
  • and ‘mishap’ developed. It comes from the Latin
  • verb *cadere* ‘fall’ (also the source of such diverse
  • English words as *case, decadent, and
  • deciduous*). The addition of the prefix *ad-* ‘to’
  • produced *accidere*, literally ‘fall to’, hence
  • ‘happen to’. Its present participle was used as an adjective in the Latin phrase *rēs accidēns* ‘thing
  • happening’, and *accidēns* soon took on the role
  • of a noun on its own, passing (in its stem form
  • *accident-*) into Old French and thence into
  • English.
  • *Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto. p 3 Left column.
  • >### case [13]
  • >There are two distinct words *case* in
  • English, both acquired via Old French from
  • Latin and both members of very large families.
  • *Case* ‘circumstance’ was borrowed from Old
  • French *cas*, which in turn came from Latin *cāsus*
  • ‘fall, chance’. This was formed from the base of
  • the verb *cadere* ‘fall’. The progression of senses
  • is from the concrete ‘that which falls’ to the
  • metaphorical ‘that which befalls, that which
  • happens (by chance)’ (and English *chance* is
  • also derived ultimately from Latin *cadere*).
  • Other related words in English include *accident,
  • cadence, cadaver, cheat, chute, coincide, decadent, decay, deciduous, and occasion.*
  • I omit the rest of the entry, as it appertains the second unrelated definition of *case* meaning "container". Op cit. p 96.
  • >### occasion [14]
  • >Like English *befall*, *occasion*
  • depends on a metaphorical connection between
  • ‘falling’ and ‘happening’. Its ultimate source is
  • the Latin verb *occidere* ‘go down’, a compound
  • formed from the prefix *ob-* ‘down’ and *cadere*
  • ‘fall’ (source of English *cadence, case
  • ‘circumstance’, decadent*, etc). The figurative
  • notion of a ‘falling together of favourable
  • circumstances’ led to the coining of a derived
  • noun *occasiō*, meaning ‘appropriate time,
  • opportunity’, and hence ‘reason’ and ‘cause’.
  • English acquired it via Old French *occasion*.
  • &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Also from Latin *occidere* comes English
  • *occident* [14], a reference to the ‘west’ as the
  • quarter in which the sun ‘goes down’ or sets.
  • Op cit, p 355.
  • I don't understand why English and Latin (see the two quotations below) uses the notion of "(be)fall" to signify "happening". How are they related semantically?
  • >### accident [14]
  • >
  • >Etymologically, an accident is
  • simply ‘something which happens’ – ‘an event’.
  • That was what the word originally meant in
  • English, and it was only subsequently that the
  • senses ‘something which happens by chance’
  • and ‘mishap’ developed. It comes from the Latin
  • verb *cadere* ‘fall’ (also the source of such diverse
  • English words as *case, decadent, and
  • deciduous*). The addition of the prefix *ad-* ‘to’
  • produced *accidere*, literally ‘fall to’, hence
  • ‘happen to’. Its present participle was used as an adjective in the Latin phrase *rēs accidēns* ‘thing
  • happening’, and *accidēns* soon took on the role
  • of a noun on its own, passing (in its stem form
  • *accident-*) into Old French and thence into
  • English.
  • *Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto. p 3 Left column.
  • >### case [13]
  • >
  • >There are two distinct words *case* in
  • English, both acquired via Old French from
  • Latin and both members of very large families.
  • *Case* ‘circumstance’ was borrowed from Old
  • French *cas*, which in turn came from Latin *cāsus*
  • ‘fall, chance’. This was formed from the base of
  • the verb *cadere* ‘fall’. The progression of senses
  • is from the concrete ‘that which falls’ to the
  • metaphorical ‘that which befalls, that which
  • happens (by chance)’ (and English *chance* is
  • also derived ultimately from Latin *cadere*).
  • Other related words in English include *accident,
  • cadence, cadaver, cheat, chute, coincide, decadent, decay, deciduous, and occasion.*
  • I omit the rest of the entry, as it appertains the second unrelated definition of *case* meaning "container". Op cit. p 96.
  • >### occasion [14]
  • >
  • >Like English *befall*, *occasion*
  • depends on a metaphorical connection between
  • ‘falling’ and ‘happening’. Its ultimate source is
  • the Latin verb *occidere* ‘go down’, a compound
  • formed from the prefix *ob-* ‘down’ and *cadere*
  • ‘fall’ (source of English *cadence, case
  • ‘circumstance’, decadent*, etc). The figurative
  • notion of a ‘falling together of favourable
  • circumstances’ led to the coining of a derived
  • noun *occasiō*, meaning ‘appropriate time,
  • opportunity’, and hence ‘reason’ and ‘cause’.
  • English acquired it via Old French *occasion*.
  • &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Also from Latin *occidere* comes English
  • *occident* [14], a reference to the ‘west’ as the
  • quarter in which the sun ‘goes down’ or sets.
  • Op cit, p 355.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar PSTH‭ · 2021-03-20T02:11:07Z (over 3 years ago)
How does "happening" appertain to "(be)falling"?
I don't understand why English and Latin (see the two quotations below) uses the notion of "(be)fall" to signify "happening". How are they related semantically? 

>### accident [14] 

>Etymologically, an accident is
simply ‘something which happens’ – ‘an event’.
That was what the word originally meant in
English, and it was only subsequently that the
senses ‘something which happens by chance’
and ‘mishap’ developed. It comes from the Latin
verb *cadere* ‘fall’ (also the source of such diverse
English words as *case, decadent, and
deciduous*). The addition of the prefix *ad-* ‘to’
produced *accidere*, literally ‘fall to’, hence
‘happen to’. Its present participle was used as an adjective in the Latin phrase *rēs accidēns* ‘thing
happening’, and *accidēns* soon took on the role
of a noun on its own, passing (in its stem form
*accident-*) into Old French and thence into
English.

*Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto. p 3 Left column.

>### case [13] 

>There are two distinct words *case* in
English, both acquired via Old French from
Latin and both members of very large families.
*Case* ‘circumstance’ was borrowed from Old
French *cas*, which in turn came from Latin *cāsus*
‘fall, chance’. This was formed from the base of
the verb *cadere* ‘fall’. The progression of senses
is from the concrete ‘that which falls’ to the
metaphorical ‘that which befalls, that which
happens (by chance)’ (and English *chance* is
also derived ultimately from Latin *cadere*).
Other related words in English include *accident,
cadence, cadaver, cheat, chute, coincide, decadent, decay, deciduous, and occasion.* 

I omit the rest of the entry, as it appertains the second unrelated definition of *case* meaning "container". Op cit. p 96.

>### occasion [14] 

>Like English *befall*, *occasion*
depends on a metaphorical connection between
‘falling’ and ‘happening’. Its ultimate source is
the Latin verb *occidere* ‘go down’, a compound
formed from the prefix *ob-* ‘down’ and *cadere*
‘fall’ (source of English *cadence, case
‘circumstance’, decadent*, etc). The figurative
notion of a ‘falling together of favourable
circumstances’ led to the coining of a derived
noun *occasiō*, meaning ‘appropriate time,
opportunity’, and hence ‘reason’ and ‘cause’.
English acquired it via Old French *occasion*.
&nbsp; &nbsp;  &nbsp;  Also from Latin *occidere* comes English
*occident* [14], a reference to the ‘west’ as the
quarter in which the sun ‘goes down’ or sets.

Op cit, p 355.