Fail

English

Etymology

Template:Etystub

From Middle English < Old French faillir < Latin fallere (“‘to deceive, disappoint’”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /feɪl/, SAMPA: /feIl/

• Audio (US)	noicon
  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪl

Verb

Infinitive to Fail

Third person singular -

Simple past -

Past participle -

Present participle -

to Fail (third-person singular simple present -, present participle -, simple past and past participle -)

1. (intransitive) To be unsuccessful.

   Throughout my life, I have always failed.

2. (transitive) Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)

   The engine failed to start.

3. (transitive) To neglect.

   The report fails to take into account all the mitigating factors.

4. (intransitive, of a machine, etc.) To cease to operate correctly.

   After running five minutes, the engine failed.

5. (transitive) To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert.
   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 3, ch. II, Gospel of Mammonism

     A poor Irish Widow […] went forth with her three children, bare of all resource, to solicit help from the Charitable Establishments of that City. At this Charitable Establishment and then at that she was refused; referred from one to the other, helped by none; — till she had exhausted them all; till her strength and heart failed her: she sank down in typhus-fever […]

6. (intransitive) To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits.

   I failed in English last year.

7. (transitive) To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour.

   The professor failed me because I did not complete any of the course assignments.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb which takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (to be unsuccessful): fall on one's face

Antonyms

• (to be unsuccessful): succeed

Derived terms

• failure
• fail-safe

Translations

be unsuccessful

Arabic: أخفق ar(ar) ('akhfaqa) Chinese: 失敗 cmn(cmn), 失败 cmn(cmn) (shībài) Czech: propadnout cs(cs) Danish: dumpe da(da) Estonian: edutu et(et) Finnish: epäonnistua fi(fi) French: échouer fr(fr) German: scheitern de(de)

Italian: bocciare it(it) Japanese: 矢敗する ja(ja) (shippai-suru) Latin: desum la(la) Norwegian: mislykkes no(no) Russian: терпеть неудачу ru(ru) (terpét' neudáču), провалиться ru(ru) (provalít'sja) Scottish Gaelic: fàillig gd(gd) Spanish: fracasar es(es), zozobrar es(es)

not achieve a goal

Czech: selhat cs(cs) Danish: fejle da(da), mislykkes da(da), slå fejl da(da) Dutch: mislukken nl(nl) Estonian: nurjuma et(et) Finnish: ei fi(fi) Latin: desum la(la)

Norwegian: mislykkes no(no) Russian: терпеть неудачу ru(ru) (terpét' neudáču), не справиться ru(ru) (ne správit'sja) Scottish Gaelic: fàillig gd(gd) Spanish: negar es(es)

be negligent

Czech: selhávat cs(cs) Danish: forsømme da(da), undlade da(da) Finnish: ei fi(fi)

French: négliger fr(fr) Latin: desum la(la) Norwegian: svikte no(no)

cease to operate

Czech: přestat cs(cs) fungovat cs(cs) Danish: svigte da(da) Estonian: seiskuma et(et) Finnish: vikaantua fi(fi), vikautua fi(fi), mennä rikki fi(fi), pysähtyä fi(fi) French: tomber en panne fr(fr)

German: versagen de(de) Norwegian: feile no(no) Russian: выходить из строя ru(ru) (vyxodít' iz strója) Spanish: pararse es(es)

cause to fail

Czech: nechat cs(cs) propadnout cs(cs) Danish: dumpe da(da) Finnish: vioittaa fi(fi), rikkoa fi(fi), pysäyttää fi(fi)

French: recaler fr(fr) Russian: провалить ru(ru) (provalít')

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: falen (3) Hebrew: להכשל m.

Noun

Singular Fail

Plural {{{1}}}

Fail ({{{1}}})

1. a failure, especially of a financial transaction
2. a failing grade in an academic examination

References

• Fail in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Fail in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• Fail at OneLook® Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• afil,
• alif
• fila

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Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA: [fˠalʲ]

Etymology

From Template:Sga[[Category:ga:Template:Sga derivations|Fail]] [[foil#Template:Sga|foil]], from Proto-Celtic *vali-, from Proto-Indo-European *wel-. Cognates include Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (helix), “‘something twisted’”).

Noun

Fail f.

1. ring
2. bracelet
3. wreath
4. sty

Declension

Template:Ga-noun-f2

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
fail	fhail	bhfail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

et:fail fr:fail ko:fail io:fail is:fail it:fail kn:fail ky:fail ku:fail hu:fail ml:fail my:fail nl:fail ja:fail no:fail oc:fail pl:fail pt:fail simple:fail fi:fail sv:fail ta:fail te:fail th:fail tr:fail vi:fail zh:fail