fault

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Responsibility for something bad that has happened.

   The accident was entirely my fault.

2. 2
   noun

   Something wrong or imperfect in a person, thing, or machine.

   The engineers found a serious fault in the engine.

3. 3
   verb

   To find something wrong with someone or something; to blame.

   You can't fault her for trying her best.

4. 4
   noun

   A large crack in the earth's surface where rock has shifted.

   The city was built right over a geological fault.

Common collocations

• major fault Adjective + noun
• minor fault Adjective + noun
• serious fault Adjective + noun
• technical fault Adjective + noun
• admit fault Verb + noun
• correct a fault Verb + noun
• find fault Verb + noun

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, fa…

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