Where does “fail” come from?

Fail comes from Middle English failen, from Anglo-Norman faillir, from Vulgar Latin fallire, from Latin fallo, ultimately from Proto-Italic falsō.

fail (English): To be unsuccessful; Not to achieve a particular...

Definitions

  1. To be unsuccessful; Not to achieve a particular...

Ancestry of “fail”, step by step

fail traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English failen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishfailen—
2Anglo-Normanfailliralternative infinitive of falir; to fail, err
3Vulgar Latinfallire—
4Latinfallōto deceive, beguile, trick, cheat, delude, ensnare, disappoint
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰwel-to bend; to lie, deceive

via German feil

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanfeilvendible, for sale
2Middle High Germanveile—
3Old High Germanfeili—

via English McPhail

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishMcPhail—
2Scottish GaelicMac Phàil—

Words derived from “fail”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- →
fail — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer