Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “failure” come from?

Failure derives from Anglo-Norman failer, from Old French faillir and falir, from Vulgar Latin fallire, from Latin fallo, ultimately from Proto-Italic falsō.

failure (English): State or condition of not meeting a desirable or...

Definitions

  1. State or condition of not meeting a desirable or...

Ancestry of “failure”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Anglo-Normanfailer—
2Old Frenchfailliralternative infinitive of falir; to fail, err
3Latinfallēre—

Words derived from “failure”

  • nonfailure
  • postfailure
  • failureproof
Every word from Latin fallēre →