fault

[[t]fɔlt[/t]]

n.

1) a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing

2) responsibility for failure or a wrongful act

3) an error or mistake

4) a misdeed or transgression

5) spo (in tennis, handball, etc.)

a) a ball that when served does not land in the proper section of an opponent's court

b) a failure to serve the ball according to the rules, as from within a certain area

6) gel min a break in the continuity of a body of rock or of a vein, with dislocation along the plane of the fracture

(fault plane).

7) Obs. lack; want

8) to commit a fault; blunder; err

9) gel Geol. to undergo faulting

10) to accuse of error; criticize

•

- at fault find fault to a fault

Etymology: 1250–1300; ME faute < AF, MF « L fallere to be wrong syn: fault, foible, weakness, failing, vice refer to human shortcomings or imperfections. fault refers to any ordinary shortcoming; condemnation is not necessarily implied: Of his many faults the greatest is vanity. foible suggests a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing: the foibles of an artist. weakness suggests that a person is unable to control a particular impulse or response, and gives way to it: a weakness for ice cream. failing is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings: Procrastination is a common failing. vice is the strongest term and designates a habit that is detrimental, immoral, or evil: to succumb to the vice of compulsive gambling.