fault

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, löstr (“fault, vice, crime”)). Compare French faute (“fault, foul”), Portuguese falta (“lack, shortage”) and Spanish falta (“lack, absence”). More at fail, false.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɔːlt/, /fɒlt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /fɔlt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /fɑlt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːlt

fault (plural faults)

1. A defect; something that detracts from perfection.
   • Shakespeare

     As patches set upon a little breach / Discredit more in hiding of the fault.

2. A mistake or error.

   No! This is my fault, not yours.

3. A weakness of character; a failing.

   For all her faults, she's a good person at heart.

4. A minor offense.
5. Blame; the responsibility for a mistake.

   The fault lies with you.

   • "Kate Spade, Whose Handbags Carried Women Into Adulthood, Is Dead at 55" by Jonah Engel Bromwich, Vanessa Friedman and Matthew Schneier, The New York Times (2018)

     A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that a note found at the scene addressed to Ms. Spade’s 13-year-old daughter indicated, among other things, that what had happened was not the child’s fault.

6. (seismology) A fracture in a rock formation causing a discontinuity.
7. (mining) In coal seams, coal rendered worthless by impurities in the seam.

   slate fault, dirt fault, etc.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Raymond to this entry?)

8. (tennis) An illegal serve.
9. (electrical) An abnormal connection in a circuit.
10. (obsolete) want; lack
    • Shakespeare

      one, it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend

11. (hunting) A lost scent; act of losing the scent.
    • Shakespeare

      Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled, / With much ado, the cold fault clearly out.

• See also Thesaurus:defect

• at fault
• double fault
• fault current
• to a fault
• triple fault

• default

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.
   • Traditional song

     For that I will not 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.

fault

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

fault

1. Second-person plural present of faulen.
2. Third-person singular present of faulen.
3. Imperative plural of faulen.