English
fail
Fail comes from Middle English failen, from Old French falir ‘to fail’, from Vulgar Latin *fallīre, from Latin fallō ‘to deceive, disappoint’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfallō‘to deceive’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fallīrereconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400falir‘to fail’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500failen
- Englishearliest quotation 1577fail
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfallō‘to deceive’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fallīrereconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400falir‘to fail’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500failen
- Englishearliest quotation 1577fail
Earliest quotation: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Historie of Englande: “If they ſhoulde gyue battayle it was to be…”
The story
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’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)gʷʰh₂el- ‘to stumble, misstep’
default, asphalt, falsely, falsetto, 6 more
through Proto-Italic *falsō
fault, false, faux, fallacy, fallacious, fallible, falsify, falsity, 9 more
Today it means
verb To be unsuccessful.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin fallō / fail