fail

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb fail to do something; leave something undone
  2. verb be unsuccessful
  3. verb disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English failen, borrowed from Old French falir, from Vulgar Latin *fallire, alteration of Latin fallere (“to deceive, disappoint”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāl- (“to lie, deceive”) or Proto-Indo-European *(s)gʷʰh₂el- (“to stumble”). Compare Alemannic German fääle (“to lack”), Cimbrian béelan, véelan (“to fail”), veln (“to be absent, missing”), Dutch falen, feilen (“to fail, miss”), German fallieren, fehlen (“to fail, miss, lack”), Danish fejle (“to fail, err”), Swedish fallera (“to fail, break, malfunction”), Spanish fallar (“to fail, miss”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

neglect

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