Etymology Explorer › Middle French

Where does “faillir” come from?

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

faillir (Middle French): to fail

Definitions

  1. to fail

Ancestry of “faillir”, step by step

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

Words derived from “faillir”

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