Tumble

How to spell tumble

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tumble

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tumble mean?

1. verbTo fall suddenly and helplessly, often rolling or somersaulting as you go.
2. nounA sudden fall, especially one involving rolling or somersaulting.

Tumble in a sentence

• verb

  The toddler began to tumble down the carpeted stairs.

• noun

  She took a nasty tumble on the icy pavement outside the office.

• verb

  Loose rocks can tumble from the cliff onto the road below.

• noun

  The gymnast finished her routine with a neat forward tumble.

Where does tumble come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Tumble descends from the Old English verb tumbian, which meant 'to dance, leap, or caper about', the kind of word once used for the energetic movements of acrobats and jugglers. In the Middle English period the form tumblen developed, with the ending -le acting as a frequentative suffix, the same little ending that turns a single action into a repeated, rolling one in words like 'sparkle' and 'crackle'. From that sense of constant motion the meaning settled into the modern idea of falling head over heels or rolling helplessly downward. The root is solidly Germanic and has cousins across the family, including the German tummeln, meaning 'to bustle or romp', and it was reinforced in English by similar Low German and Dutch forms. The spelling trap is the silent b wedged between the m and the l, a relic of the word's medieval shape that survives even though nobody pronounces it.

How the word is built

• tumb- (from Old English tumbian: to leap, dance)
• -le (frequentative verb suffix indicating repeated motion)