Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “faillir” come from?

faillir (French) comes from Middle French faillir, from Old French falir, from Vulgar Latin fallire, from Latin fallō, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- — to bend; to lie, deceive.

faillir (French): to almost do something; to fail; to go bankrupt

Definitions

  1. to almost do something; to fail; to go bankrupt

Ancestry of “faillir”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchfaillirto fail
2Old Frenchfalirto fail; to err; to make a mistake
3Vulgar Latinfallire—
4Latinfallō—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰwel-to bend; to lie, deceive

Words derived from “faillir”

  • faux
  • defail
  • faux pas
  • faux ami
  • fauxtography
  • faux-filet
  • fausseté
  • défaillir
  • faux
  • faux-ami
  • faux pas
  • archifaux
  • fausse
  • faussement
  • faut
  • faille
  • Fauxpas
  • ファイユ
  • stavefeil
  • feilaktig
  • feilmelding
  • feilvare
  • skrivefeil
  • feil
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- →