English edit

 
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Etymology edit

From Middle English faute, faulte, from Anglo-Norman faute, Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin *fallita (shortcoming), feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fallō (deceive). Displaced native Middle English schuld, schuild (fault) (from Old English scyld (fault)), Middle English lac (fault, lack) (from Middle Dutch lak (lack, fault)), Middle English last (fault, vice) (from Old Norse lǫstr (fault, vice, crime)). Compare French faute (fault, foul), Portuguese falta (lack, shortage) and Spanish falta (lack, absence). More at fail, false.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

fault (plural faults)

  1. A defect; something that detracts from perfection.
  2. A mistake or error.
    No! This is my fault, not yours.
    • 2020, Body Count (lyrics and music), “Point the Finger”:
      They shoot first and ask questions last / Could be yours, could be mine / And then they point the finger at you / How many more innocent people and kids gotta get killed by these police, man? / And then it's always the victim's fault
  3. A weakness of character; a failing.
    Despite for all her faults, she’s a good person at heart.
  4. A characteristic, positive or negative or both, which subjects a person or thing to increased risk of danger.
    You're still young, that's your fault.
  5. A minor offense.
  6. Blame; the responsibility for a mistake.
    The fault lies with you.
    • 2018 June 5, Jonah Engel Bromwich, Vanessa Friedman, Matthew Schneier, “Kate Spade, whose handbags carried women into adulthood, is dead at 55”, in The New York Times[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 June 2018:
      A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that a note found at the scene addressed to Ms. [Kate] Spade's 13-year-old daughter indicated, among other things, that what had happened was not the child’s fault.
  7. (seismology) A fracture in a rock formation causing a discontinuity.
  8. (mining) In coal seams, coal rendered worthless by impurities in the seam.[1]
    slate fault  dirt fault
  9. (tennis) An illegal serve.
  10. (electrical) An abnormal connection in a circuit.
  11. (obsolete) want; lack
  12. (hunting) A lost scent; act of losing the scent.

Synonyms edit

Hyponyms edit

(seismology):

Derived terms edit

Terms derived from fault (noun)

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Verb edit

fault (third-person singular simple present faults, present participle faulting, simple past and past participle faulted)

  1. (transitive) To criticize, blame or find fault with something or someone.
    • a. 1723, unknown author, The Devonshire Nymph:
      For that, says he, I ne'er will fault thee / But for humbleness exalt thee.
  2. (intransitive, geology) To fracture.
  3. (intransitive) To commit a mistake or error.
  4. (intransitive, computing) To undergo a page fault.
    • 2002, Æleen Frisch, Essential system administration:
      When a page is read in, a few pages surrounding the faulted page are typically loaded as well in the same I/O operation in an effort to head off future page faults.

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond (1881), “Fault”, in A Glossary of Mining and Metallurgical Terms. [], Easton, Pa.: [American] Institute [of Mining Engineers], [], →OCLC.

French edit

Verb edit

fault

  1. Obsolete spelling of faut (third-person singular present indicative of falloir)

German edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

fault

  1. inflection of faulen:
    1. second-person plural present
    2. third-person singular present
    3. plural imperative

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English fault.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

fault n (plural faulturi)

  1. (sports) fault

Declension edit