“Fall” (or “Fall of the Leaf” in the 16th century) is the word we use to describe the pumpkin spiced season where leaves shift colors and fall from trees. This period is beautiful and comes with many exciting changes, which begs the question: Where does the word “Fall” originate from?

In America, the season was initially called “harvest” around the 10th century in Old English because many farmers harvested and preserved their crops for Winter around this time of the year. This term quickly became obsolete when living on a farm became less common. Around the 1500s, people who spoke English began referring to the warm and cold seasons as the “fall of the leaf “or “spring of the leaf”, which later became known as Fall and Spring. A fun fact is that Fall is the only season in English where it’s acceptable to interchangeably use Autumn instead and everyone will still understand you! Although both terms were in effect in British America for some time, the word fall slipped from British vocabulary while staying prevalent in the U.S. Funnily enough, using the word fall is even seen as a giveaway of American origin in Britain! This season is commonly celebrated in the U.S. with many holidays, such as Thanksgiving- a time of turkey, gratitude and lots of time with family, as well as Halloween, with pumpkins, ghosts, and trick or treating, it’s surely a fan favorite in the states!

In other countries that use Latin romance languages such as France, Italy, and Spain, they use words very similar to Autumn to English. Some of these include l‘automne, autunno, and otoño. 

France celebrates the Fall season with an abundance of harvest festivals, the most prevalent being the Fête de Vendages. This annual festival celebrates the grape harvest, with the most famous being in Montmartre, Paris, featuring wine tastings, parades, and fireworks. Other towns and villages hold their own harvest festivals for their seasonal crops as well.

In Germany, they call Autumn ‘herbst’ which again means harvest season. There, Fall brings lots of exciting events, but a main one that they’re known for is Oktoberfest. It’s a mixture of a beer festival and a funfair, held annually in Munich, Germany.

Norway celebrates this season with ‘Evalangs’. This annual event in Oslo has a tradition of turning off all the lights in the city for a night, and people walk along the Akerselva river, lighting the way with thousands of torches, fire shows, and light installations. In this country, they say ‘høst’ which signifies a plentiful reaping of fall vegetables and crops.

Countries around the world use different words for Autumn and celebrate the season very differently. Learning about these cultures spreads the joy of the season and lets us understand people from all over the world! Happy Fall.