fail

== English == === Pronunciation === enPR: fāl, IPA(key): /feɪl/ (North India) IPA(key): /fel/, /fɛl/ (dialectal) Homophone: fell (South India) IPA(key): /fɛjl/ Rhymes: -eɪl === Etymology 1 === 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”). ==== Alternative forms ==== faile, fayle (obsolete) ==== Verb ==== fail (third-person singular simple present fails, present participle failing, simple past and past participle failed) (intransitive) To be unsuccessful. (transitive) Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.) (transitive) To neglect. (intransitive) Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly. (transitive) To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert; to disappoint one's expectations. (ambitransitive) To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits. (transitive) To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour. (transitive, obsolete) To miss attaining; to lose. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence. (archaic) To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; used with of. (archaic) To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink. (archaic) To deteriorate in respect to vigour, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker. (obsolete) To perish; to die; used of a person. (obsolete) To err in judgment; to be mistaken. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent. ===== Usage notes ===== This is a catenative verb which takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Synonyms ===== (to be unsuccessful): miscarry, founder, come to nought, come to nothing, crash and burn, fall flat, fall on one's face, go downhill, go down the toilet, go to pot, go to the dogs, go up in flames, go up in smoke (not vulgar); die in the ass, everything one touches turns to shit, go to hell, go to shit (vulgar) (to receive non-passing grades in academic pursuits): flunk (US) (to become deficient): go, bomb, bust, conk, tank ===== Antonyms ===== (antonym(s) of “to be unsuccessful”): succeed ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Russian: фейл (fejl) → Scottish Gaelic: fàillig, fàillinnich, fàillnich → Welsh: ffaelu, ffili ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== fail (countable and uncountable, plural fails) A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action). A failing grade in an academic examination. (slang, US) A failure (something incapable of success). (uncountable, slang) Poor quality; substandard workmanship. ===== Derived terms ===== ==== Adjective ==== fail (comparative more fail, superlative most fail) (slang, US) Unsuccessful; inadequate; unacceptable in some way. === Etymology 2 === Unknown. Compare Scottish Gaelic fàl (“hedge”), Scots faill (“turf”). Attested from the 16th century. ==== Alternative forms ==== feal ==== Noun ==== fail (plural fails) A piece of turf cut from grassland. ===== Derived terms ===== === References === “fail”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “fail”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “fail”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === -afil, alif, fila == Indonesian == === Pronunciation === (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /ˈfail/ [ˈfa.ɪl] Rhymes: -ail Syllabification: fail === Etymology 1 === Borrowed from English file, from Old French fil (“thread”), from Latin filum (“thread”). Compare to Malay fail. ==== Noun ==== fail (plural fail-fail) (uncommon) file a collection of papers collated and archived together Synonyms: berkas, dokumen, sahifah (computing) an aggregation of data on a storage device, identified by a name Synonym: berkas (uncommon) file rack Synonym: rak berkas ===== Hyponyms ===== ===== Derived terms ===== === Etymology 2 === Borrowed from Arabic فَاعِل (fāʕil, “subject, agent”). ==== Noun ==== fail (plural fail-fail) (grammar) doer, subject Synonyms: pelaku, subjek === Further reading === “fail”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016 == Irish == === Etymology === From Old Irish foil, from Proto-Celtic *wali-, from Proto-Indo-European *wel-. Cognates include Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “something twisted”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /fˠalʲ/ === Noun === fail f (genitive singular faile, nominative plural faileanna) ring bracelet wreath sty ==== Declension ==== === Mutation === == Malay == === Etymology === From English file. === Noun === fail (plural fail-fail) file (collection of papers) information or a document about someone, something etc. (computing) file (aggregation of data on a storage device) ==== Derived terms ==== pemfailan (the process of filing) berfail-fail (a lot of files) === Verb === fail (used in the form memfailkan) file (commit papers) file (to archive) (computing) file (store computer data) (with untuk) file (make a formal request) == Old Irish == === Verb === fail alternative form of fil == Turkish == === Etymology === Inherited from Ottoman Turkish فاعل (fā'il), from Arabic فَاعِل (fāʕil), active participle of فَعَلَ (faʕala, “to do, to affect”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /faːˈil/ Hyphenation: fa‧il === Noun === fail (definite accusative faili, plural failler) (grammar, archaic) subject Synonym: özne (archaic) agent, doer (law) actor, perpetrator ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== === References === === Further reading === “fail”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “fail”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 2, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1540 Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN