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in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English false, fals, from Old English fals (“false; counterfeit; fraudulent; wrong; mistaken”), from Latin falsus (“counterfeit, false; falsehood”), perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”). Reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman and Old French fals, faus. Compare Scots fals, false, Saterland Frisian falsk, German falsch, Dutch vals, Swedish and Danish falsk; all from Latin falsus. Displaced native Middle English les, lese, from Old English lēas (“false”); See lease, leasing. Doublet of faux.
The verb is from Middle English falsen, falsien, from Old French falser, from Latin falsō (“falsify”), itself also from falsus; compare French fausser (“to falsify, to distort”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
false (comparative falser, superlative falsest)
- Untrue, not factual, factually incorrect.
1551, James A.H. Murray, editor, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles: Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society, volume 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1888, Part 1, page 217, column 2:Also the rule of false position, with dyuers examples not onely vulgar, but some appertaynyng to the rule of Algeber.
- Based on factually incorrect premises.
- false legislation, false punishment
- Spurious, artificial.
- false teeth
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Silverside”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 300:At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
- (logic) Of a state in Boolean logic that indicates a negative result.
- Uttering falsehood; dishonest or deceitful.
- a false witness
- Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous.
- a false friend, lover, or subject; false to promises
1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, .”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC, page 52, line 25:I to my ſelf was falſe, e’re thou to me, […]
1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 7:She had been in Baton Rouge but a little over two weeks, when suddenly his letters ceased. She awaited in anxious suspense a whole week — no letter. Another week dragged heavily, and her anxiety became a terrible fear. Was he sick and unable to write — was he dead — or, still more terrible thought, had he proved false?
- Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous.
- a false conclusion; a false construction in grammar
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 54, page 170:So downe he fell, as an huge rockie clift, / Whoſe falſe foundacion waues haue waſht away, […]
- Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.
- Used in the vernacular name of a species (or group of species) together with the name of another species to which it is similar in appearance.
- false scorpion (an arachnid)
- false killer whale (a dolphin)
- false powderpost beetles (members of Bostrichidae not in Lyctinae)
- (music) Out of tune.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Collocations
nouns
- false alarm
- false name
- false teeth
- false pretenses
- false step
- false position
- false hope
- false witness
- false prophet
- false sense
- false information
- false statement
- false imprisonment
- false impression
- false consciousness
- false start
- false belief
- false idea
- false conclusion
adverbs
- completely false
- entirely false
- utterly false
- patently false
- totally false
- obviously false
- clearly false
- simply false
- absolutely false
- necessarily false
Translations
untrue, not factual, wrong
- Arabic: زَائِف (zāʔif), بَاطِل (bāṭil), كَاذِب (kāḏib)
- Egyptian Arabic: فلصو m (falsu)
- Armenian: կեղծ (hy) (keġc), սխալ (hy) (sxal)
- Assamese: মিছা (misa), ভুৱা (bhua)
- Asturian: falsu
- Basque: faltsu
- Breton: gaou (br)
- Bulgarian: грешен (bg) (grešen)
- Catalan: fals (ca), incorrecte (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 假 (zh) (jiǎ), 虛偽/虚伪 (zh) (xūwěi), 虛假/虚假 (zh) (xūjiǎ)
- Cornish: gaw
- Crimean Tatar: yañlış
- Czech: nepravdivý (cs) m
- Dalmatian: fuals
- Danish: falsk (da)
- Dutch: onwaar (nl), vals (nl), fout (nl), onjuist (nl)
- Esperanto: malvera, nevera
- Finnish: valheellinen (fi), epätosi (fi), väärä (fi), (prefix) vale-
- French: faux (fr), incorrect (fr)
- Galician: falso (gl)
- Georgian: ცრუ (cru), ტყუილი (ka) (ṭq̇uili)
- German: falsch (de), unwahr (de)
- Greek: ψευδής (el) (psevdís)
- Ancient: ψευδής (pseudḗs)
- Haitian Creole: fo
- Hebrew: שקרי m (shikrí), לא נכון m (ló nakhón)
- Hindi: झूठा (hi) (jhūṭhā), खोटा (hi) (khoṭā)
- Hungarian: hamis (hu)
- Icelandic: rangur (is), ósannur (is)
- Ido: falsa (io)
- Indonesian: salah (id)
- Ingrian: perätöin
- Interlingua: false
- Irish: bréagach, bréige
- Italian: falso (it), errato (it), bugiardo (it) m
- Japanese: 偽 (ja) (にせ, nise), 虚偽 (ja) (きょぎ, kyogi)
- Korean: 거짓 (ko) (geojit)
- Kyrgyz: жаңылыш (ky) (jaŋılış), ката (ky) (kata), жасалма (ky) (jasalma), арамза (ky) (aramza)
- Latin: falsus, mendāx (la)
- Latvian: nepareizs, kļūdains
- Lithuanian: klaidingas (lt), neteisingas (lt)
- Malay: salah (ms)
- Maori: patē, parau, horihori, meho, tipatipa, teka, hāwatewate, kēā
- Norman: faux
- Occitan: fals (oc)
- Old English: lēas
- Persian: غلط (fa) (ğalat)
- Plautdietsch: faulsch
- Polish: fałszywy (pl), nieprawdziwy (pl), błędny (pl)
- Portuguese: falso (pt), errado (pt)
- Romanian: fals (ro), neadevăr (ro)
- Russian: фальши́вый (ru) (falʹšívyj), ло́жный (ru) (lóžnyj), непра́вильный (ru) (neprávilʹnyj)
- Sanskrit: असत् (sa) (ásat), असत्य (sa) (asatya), अशुद्ध (sa) (aśuddha)
- Vedic: आसत् (ā́sat)
- Sardinian: fàlsu
- Scottish Gaelic: breugach, fuadain
- Spanish: falso (es)
- Swedish: falsk (sv), osann (sv)
- Sylheti: ꠝꠤꠍꠣ (misá)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: yanlış (tr), yalan (tr)
- Ukrainian: неправди́вий (nepravdývyj), хи́бний m (xýbnyj)
- Urdu: جھوٹھا (jhūṭhā), غلط (ġalat), کھوٹا (khōṭā)
- Volapük: dobik (vo), neveratik (vo)
- Welsh: anwir, anghywir (cy), ffug (cy), gau (cy)
- Yiddish: פֿאַלש (falsh)
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based on factually incorrect premises
spurious, artificial
- Armenian: կեղծ (hy) (keġc)
- Asturian: falsu
- Bulgarian: изкуствен (bg) (izkustven), фалшив (bg) (falšiv)
- Catalan: fals (ca), postís, artificial (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Czech: falešný (cs), imitovaný, nepravý, umělý (cs)
- Danish: kunstig (da)
- Dutch: vals (nl), onecht (nl)
- Finnish: keinotekoinen (fi), teko- (fi), keino-, vale- (fi)
- French: faux (fr), artificiel (fr)
- Galician: falso (gl)
- Georgian: ყალბი (q̇albi)
- German: falsch (de), unecht (de)
- Greek: ψευδής (el) (psevdís), πλαστός (el) (plastós), κίβδηλος (el) (kívdilos), νόθος (el) (nóthos)
- Ancient: πλαστός (plastós)
- Hebrew: מזוייף m (mezuyáf), תותב (he) m (totáv) (prosthetic), תותבת f (totévet) (prosthetic)
- Hungarian: hamis (hu), mű- (hu)
- Ido: falsa (io)
- Indonesian: buatan (id)
- Interlingua: false
- Irish: bréag-, bréagach, bréige, falsa
- Italian: posticcio (it), finto (it)
- Latin: fictus
- Latvian: viltots, mākslīgs
- Lithuanian: dirbtinis (lt), netikras
- Malay: palsu (ms)
- Polish: sztuczny (pl)
- Portuguese: falso (pt), artificial (pt)
- Romanian: fals (ro), artificial (ro), contrafăcut (ro)
- Scottish Gaelic: breugach, meallta, mealltach, fuadain
- Spanish: postizo
- Swedish: konstgjord (sv)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: yapay (tr), sahte (tr)
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state in Boolean logic that indicates a negative result
not well founded, erroneous
not essential or permanent
Translations to be checked
Verb
false (third-person singular simple present falses, present participle falsing, simple past and past participle falsed)
- (electronics, telecommunications, of a decoder) To incorrectly decode noise as if it were a valid signal.
- (obsolete) To violate, to betray (a promise, an agreement, one’s faith, etc.).
c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:And he that could with giftes and promiſes,
Inueigle him that lead a thouſand horſe,
And make him falſe his faith vnto his King,
Will quickly win ſuch as be like himſelfe.
- (obsolete) To counterfeit, to forge.
- (obsolete) To make false, to corrupt from something true or real.
Adverb
false (comparative more false, superlative most false)
- In a dishonest and disloyal way; falsely.
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 17, column 2:Sweet Lord, you play me falſe.
Noun
false (plural falses)
- One of two options on a true-or-false test, that not representing true.
The student received a failing grade for circling every true and false on her quiz.
Anagrams
Galician
Verb
false
- inflection of falsar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Italian
Pronunciation
Adjective
false f pl
- feminine plural of falso
Latin
Adverb
falsē (comparative falsius, superlative falsissimē)
- falsely, mistakenly
- Synonym: falsō
Noun
false
- vocative singular of falsus
References
- “false”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- false in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- false in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Portuguese
Verb
false
- inflection of falsar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Spanish
Verb
false
- inflection of falsar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative