Failure

How to spell failure

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce failure

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does failure mean?

1. nounA lack of success, or the state of not achieving an intended goal.
2. nounThe breaking down or ceasing to function of a device, system, or body part.
3. nounThe neglect or omission of an expected or required action.

Failure in a sentence

• The launch was a complete failure, and the team went back to the drawing board.

• A power failure left the whole office without lighting for an hour.

• Failure to pay the invoice within thirty days will incur a penalty.

• After the business failure, she spent a year rebuilding her savings.

• Engine failure forced the pilot to make an emergency landing.

• The report blamed the accident on a failure to follow safety procedures.

Where does failure come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the verb 'fail', which English took from Old French faillir, 'to be lacking, to fall short, to disappoint'. That French verb came in turn from the Latin fallere, which literally meant 'to deceive' and, in a weaker sense, 'to be wanting' or 'to slip'. The noun 'failure' arose in English in the early 1600s, originally spelled 'failer' on the model of legal French terms, before settling into the modern '-ure' spelling alongside words like 'pleasure' and 'seizure'. The same Latin fallere lies behind 'fallacy', 'fallible', and 'fault', all carrying the idea of something going wrong or proving untrue. The spelling trap is the quiet 'u' before the 'r': fluent writers hear 'fail-yer' and may drop it, but the '-ure' ending is what marks it as a noun of result.

How the word is built

• fail (from Latin fallere: to deceive, fall short)
• -ure (noun suffix meaning the act, process, or result)