fault

English Online Dictionary. What means fault‎? What does fault mean?

English

Etymology

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

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

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

• (Canada) IPA^(key): [fɒːlt]
• Rhymes: -ɔːlt, -ɒlt

Noun

fault (plural faults)

1. (typically uncountable) Culpability; the responsibility for a blameworthy event.
2. A defect, imperfection, or weakness; more severe than a flaw.
   1. (morality) A failing of character; less severe than a vice.

   2. A characteristic, positive or negative or both, which increases one's risk of danger or difficulty.

      Synonym: vulnerability

   3. A strongly undesirable variation of food or drink caused by impurity or contamination.
   4. (obsolete) A point of weakness in something's physical structure.
3. A mistake or error.
   1. A minor offense.
   2. (tennis) An illegal serve.
   3. (equestrianism) A penalty point assessed in horseback events such as show jumping.

   4. (programming) An exception within a software program or process.

      Hyponyms: double fault, page fault, segmentation fault, triple fault

4. A point at which something is divided, interrupted, or disconnected.
   1. (geology) A fracture in a rock formation causing a discontinuity.

      Hyponyms: normal fault, reverse fault, strike-slip fault, thrust fault, transform fault
   2. (technology) An abnormal connection within an electric circuit.

      Hyponym: arc fault

   3. (hunting) A loss of the scent being tracked by a hound.
   4. (mining) An intrusion of another material, such as dirt or slate, within a coal seam.
5. (obsolete) want; lack; absence

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defect

Derived terms

Related terms

• default

Translations

Verb

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.
2. (intransitive, geology) To fracture.
3. (intransitive) To commit a mistake or error.
4. (intransitive, computing) To undergo a page fault.

Derived terms

Translations

References

French

Verb

fault

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

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faʊ̯lt/

Verb

fault

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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English fault.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfa.ult/

Noun

fault n (plural faulturi)

1. (sports) foul

Declension