Why “tofall” is a great word
TOFALL — [Noun] An archaic term for a simple, sloping structure built against a wall, or for the decline or close of something, such as the arrival of night. Its lineage is one of quiet approach: from Middle English *tofal*, equivalent to the prefix *to-* (meaning "at, toward") + *fall* (from Old English *feallan*, "to fall"). Unlike "lean-to," which denotes only the rustic shelter, or "twilight," which describes the ambient glow preceding darkness, *tofall* encompasses both a settling structure and the settling of time. It is the rough-hewn timber of a woodshed leaning into the hillside as if weary, the definitive shadow that climbs the eastern hills, and the quiet, irrevocable moment a book is closed for the last time—a term for all that is provisional, and for the leaning-in of the dark that proves it so.