# Adjectival form of "fall" (as in "autumn"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463 "2000-10-10T20:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/1 "2000-10-10T20:42:15Z")
I’m in Scotland, reflecting (no, make that shivering) re. the fact that the weather has so suddenly become autumnal. But I now wonder, for those of you who have “fall” instead of “autumn”, what is the adjectival form of “fall”? (I did search but with no success.) ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/2 "2000-10-10T20:48:36Z")
We don’t have “fall” _instead_ of “autumn”; it’s just the more common expression. So, “autumnal” on this side of the Atlantic, too; though “fall” could certainly be used as an adjective (like “autumn”, as in “autumn woods”). ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/3 "2000-10-10T20:59:09Z")
I don’t know if there is a proper word. If not I hereby nominate “fallic”. Used in a sentence: “football is a fallic sport.” ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/4 "2000-10-10T21:03:00Z")
The most common form is “fall” as in, “I like to look at the fall leaves.” I prefer “autumnal”, myself. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/5 "2000-10-10T21:09:55Z")
Just to reiterate what scratch1300 said, ‘fall’ is an adjective in its own right. So over here you’ll hear expressions like “fall colors”, “fall fashions”, “fall sports”, and the dreaded “fall lineup”. (This last one refers to the schedule for new TV programs which premiere in the fall.) [unrelated] I remember meeting someone in France for whom the use of nouns as adjectives was particularly troubling. One thing she wondered was why “children’s books” was used but not “children books”. “After all,” she exclaimed, “you can say ’ adult’s books ’ and ‘adult books’, and there’s no difference, is there?” [/unrelated] ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/6 "2000-10-10T21:10:55Z")
Thanks to all. I honestly thought there would be one but I had somehow never heard it. So what if a tree falls in the fall woods…? “Fallic” has possibilities,I suppose. Well, thanks for such fast information, but it sounds as though “autumnal” has more practical value. ---
**Author:** ![TampaFlyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@TampaFlyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TampaFlyer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/7 "2000-10-10T21:13:15Z")
Of course it’s fall, as in “fall TV season” or “fall classic” (the World Series). Ditto for all the other seasons- as in winter carnival, spring break, summer vacation. That’s why English is so easy to learn. It’s so logical! ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/8 "2000-10-10T22:13:19Z")
Ok - I now realise that I have heard “fall” as in "“fall fashions” etc., but that completely eluded my mind when I posted (and would have gone on doing so, I suspect.) BTW, recently I couldn’t remember the German word for that season, and I’m still displeased that it is Herbst: it sounds grassy, not autumnal/fall etc. Logic?! Next British question: "What is this word “summer”? 🙂 Seriously, thank you all for your help here. Am off to hibernate/autumnate. ---
**Author:** ![Teach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@Teach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/9 "2000-10-10T22:14:37Z")
I might say that the weather has become **fall-like** as in the following headline: Fall-like weather for the start of football [http://www.townonline.com/northwest/arlington/sports/spoAAstart\_082400\_27.html](http://www.townonline.com/northwest/arlington/sports/spoAAstart_082400_27.html) ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/10 "2000-10-10T22:26:04Z")
How about vernal? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/11 "2000-10-10T22:36:56Z")
Vernal refers to spring or a town in Utah. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/12 "2000-10-10T22:38:46Z")
Celyn, while I don’t have the resources available right now, the German Herbst is almost certainly related to “harvest”. (quite a few b’s go to v’s when crossing the North Sea). The usage of ‘harvest’ to refer to this time of year is pretty archaic in English. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/13 "2000-10-10T22:41:32Z")
D’oh! I’m an idiot. Well, is the fall equivilant that is used with, say, equinoxes just “autumnal”, or is there something else? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/14 "2000-10-10T22:50:14Z")
Panamajack - you’re right! I didn’t know that (had never looked it up.) Even my not-too-good Collins Dictionary at home says that English “harvest” is from Old English “haerfest”, related to O. Norse “Harfr” (harrow), O.H.G. “herbist” (autumn), Latin “carpere” (to pluck) Greek “karpos” (fruit), Sanskrit “krpana” (shears). (Maybe those Old English pronounced “f” as “v” like Welsh.) Wow! So I’m cold but better educated now! ---
**Author:** ![Teach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@Teach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/15 "2000-10-11T06:17:24Z")
What? No one likes fall-like? ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/16 "2000-10-11T13:09:30Z")
Teach, no one likes _fall-like_ because it means “similar to fall” rather than “of or pertaining to fall”, like _autumnal_ is to _autumn_. You wouldn’t speak of “the fall-like woods” if you were actually in the woods and in fall… ---
**Author:** ![Teach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@Teach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/17 "2000-10-11T14:10:11Z")
Good point, scratch1300, but the OP seemed to be looking for an adjective to describe the weather. I thought fall-like was perfectly suited to that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/18 "2000-10-11T14:49:18Z")
**Teach** Fear not, "fall-like " is fine. I neglected to thank you for that contribution because I took time off to think of a polite way to tell MK that “vernal” made no sense! Sorry. To be honest, I suspect that “fall-like” would be all right in print but could end up being elided into something strange in speech, but I do not want to fall out with a teacher. Here is a virtual apple. BTW, let me make it clear that I didn’t intend to make a “Brit being picky about U.S. language” thread: it was a genuine question. I haven’t studied the English language since the age of 16, and that didn’t include the U.S. version, although that could have been interesting, as some of the “Amercian” words would be words once current in Britain, but retained in the U.S. In fact, “fall” is one of those, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Teach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@Teach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjectival-form-of-fall-as-in-autumn/36463/19 "2000-10-11T22:29:45Z")
**Celyn** , thanks for the apple!