Other forms: pitfalls
A pitfall is a hidden danger that catches the unwary. The pitfalls of the trade.
It is nearly always plural and nearly always about mistakes rather than physical danger. The word first named a covered pit dug to trap an animal, which is exactly the picture.
1nounpitfallA hidden danger that catches the unwary.
“Every pitfall in the contract was in the last two pages.”
pitfall is a danger.
Pit plus fall, from Old English fealle, a trap; it named a covered pit dug to catch animals.
Proto-Indo-European
*(s)pōl-
Proto-Germanic
*fallą
Old English
fealle — trap, snare
English, today
pitfall
Built from
First recorded use in the 14th century from pit + fall in the sense of "pit trap, pit snare", from Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic fallą, fallaz (“a fall, trap”), from Proto-Indo-European (s)pōl-. Cognate with German Falle (“trap, snare”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA