Etymology Explorer › Middle French

Where does “faille” come from?

faille (Middle French) comes from Old French faille, from Vulgar Latin fallita, from Latin falsus, from Latin fallō, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- — to bend; to lie, deceive.

Ancestry of “faille”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchfaillefailure
2Vulgar Latinfallitashortcoming
3Latinfalsusdeceived, tricked, cheated, disappointed, having...
4Latinfallō—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰwel-to bend; to lie, deceive

Words derived from “faille”

  • feil
  • feilloos
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwel- →