- befall (v.)
- Old English befeallan "to deprive of; fall to, be assigned to; befall," from be- "by, about" + feallan (see fall). Compare Old Frisian bifalla, Old Saxon, Old High German bifallan, German befallen. Related: Befell; befalling.
- misbefall (v.)
- "suffer harm, come to grief," mid-13c., from mis- (1) + befall. Related: Misbefell; misbefalling.