Etymology

fail

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Today it means: To be unsuccessful. Full definition →

Middle English failen ← Old French falir ← Vulgar Latin *fallīre
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fail · verb, noun, adjective1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)gʷʰh₂el-
  2. Proto-Italic*falsō?
  3. Classical Latinfallere
  4. Vulgar Latin*fallīre
  5. Old Frenchfalir
  6. Middle Englishfailen
  7. English todayfail

Inherited from Middle English failen, borrowed from Old French falir, from Vulgar Latin *fallire, alteration of Latin fallere (“to deceive, disappoint”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāl- (“to lie, deceive”) or Proto-Indo-European *(s)gʷʰh₂el- (“to stumble”). Compare Alemannic German fääle (“to lack”), Cimbrian béelan, véelan (“to fail”), veln (“to be absent, missing”), Dutch falen, feilen (“to fail, miss”), German fallieren, fehlen (“to fail, miss, lack”), Danish fejle (“to fail, err”), Swedish fallera (“to fail, break, malfunction”), Spanish fallar (“to fail, miss”).

fail · noun2

Unknown. Compare Scottish Gaelic fàl (“hedge”), Scots faill (“turf”). Attested from the 16th century.

Fail · proper noun3

* As a Scottish and Irish surname, shortened from McPhail. * As a Manx surname, variant of Fayle. * As a south German surname, from the adjective feil (“for sale”).

Words from the same roots

Latinfallere all →

fallible

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.