Wiktionary

false

See also: FALSE and falsé

English

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Etymology

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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

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Adjective

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false (comparative falser, superlative falsest)

  1. 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.
  2. Based on factually incorrect premises.
    false legislation, false punishment
  3. 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.
  4. (logic) Of a state in Boolean logic that indicates a negative result.
  5. Uttering falsehood; dishonest or deceitful.
    a false witness
  6. 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[ohn] M[acock] 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?
  7. Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous.
    a false conclusion;  a false construction in grammar
  8. Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.
  9. 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)
  10. (music) Out of tune.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of “untrue”): real, true

Derived terms

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Collocations

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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

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Verb

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false (third-person singular simple present falses, present participle falsing, simple past and past participle falsed)

  1. (electronics, telecommunications, of a decoder) To incorrectly decode noise as if it were a valid signal.
  2. (obsolete) To violate, to betray (a promise, an agreement, one’s faith, etc.).
  3. (obsolete) To counterfeit, to forge.
  4. (obsolete) To make false, to corrupt from something true or real.

Adverb

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false (comparative more false, superlative most false)

  1. In a dishonest and disloyal way; falsely.

Noun

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false (plural falses)

  1. 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

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Galician

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Verb

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false

  1. inflection of falsar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈfal.se/
  • Rhymes: -alse
  • Hyphenation: fàl‧se

Adjective

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false f pl

  1. feminine plural of falso

Latin

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Adverb

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falsē (comparative falsius, superlative falsissimē)

  1. falsely, mistakenly
    Synonym: falsō

Noun

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false

  1. vocative singular of falsus

References

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  • “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.

Old English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈfɑl.se/, [ˈfɑɫ.ze]

Noun

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false

  1. dative singular of fals

Adjective

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false

  1. inflection of fals:
    1. strong accusative feminine singular
    2. strong instrumental masculine/neuter singular
    3. strong nominative/accusative masculine/feminine plural
    4. weak nominative feminine/neuter singular
    5. weak accusative neuter singular

Portuguese

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Verb

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false

  1. inflection of falsar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

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Verb

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false

  1. inflection of falsar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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