default

The story

1. Latin · derived fromde-“away”
2. Old French · derived fromdefaute“fault, defect, failure, culpability, lack”
3. Middle English · inherited fromdefaut, defaute
4. English todaydefault

From Middle English defaut, defaute, from Old French defaute (“fault, defect, failure, culpability, lack”), ultimately from Latin de- (“away”) + fallo (“deceive, cheat, escape notice of”).

Words from the same roots