defective

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English defectif,^[2][3] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman defectif, also deffectif (in Old French from 1314, now défectif),^[4][5] and partly borrowed from Late Latin dēfectīvus (“imperfect”),^[4][6][7][8] which was first a grammatical term, of words lacking some of their forms (3rd century), and meant "faulty" from the 5th century, in Augustine.^[4] The Latin adjective is formed from the past participle stem of dēficiō (“to desert, revolt, fail”), with the suffix -īvus;^[4][6][9] the verb is from dē (“down, away”) and faciō (“to do, make”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having a defect; lacking something necessary; imperfect or faulty: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.^[4] Etymonline dates the word to the mid-14th century.^[6] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from 1380, of things badly made or out of order and of people failing their obligations.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the 15th century the word also described a person at fault or guilty of wrongdoing, a sense obsolete after 1677.^[4] In grammar it described a word lacking some of its usual forms from about 1450, and as a noun such a word was a defective from 1530, in Palsgrave.^[4][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as full of defects, imperfect and not adequate to the purpose.^[10] From 1825 it was used of people with a physical or mental disability, both as an adjective and, by 1869 in Etymonline, as a noun;^[4][6] this use is now historical and offensive.^[4][11] The noun for a faulty manufactured product dates from 1652.^[4] The Century Dictionary distinguished defective, lacking an essential quality, from deficient, lacking in quantity.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1398 – having a defect, imperfect, faulty.^[4]
• 1423 – of a person, at fault, guilty (obsolete by 1677).^[4]
• c. 1450 – in grammar, lacking some of the usual forms.^[4]
• 1530 – noun, a defective word, in Palsgrave.^[4]
• 1652 – noun, a faulty product.^[4]
• 1653 – in music, of an interval a semitone less than perfect.^[4]
• 1825 – of a person with a physical or intellectual disability (now offensive).^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having a defect or flaw; not working properly; faulty: The shop replaced the defective kettle.^[11][3][4]
2. Lacking something essential; deficient: defective in judgement.^[3][4]
3. (grammar) Of a word, lacking some of the inflections or uses normal for its class, as must has no past tense.^[11][3][4]
4. (offensive, old-fashioned) Of a person, having a physical or intellectual disability.^[11][4]
5. (obsolete, 1423–1677) Of a person, at fault or guilty of wrongdoing.^[4][3]

Noun

1. (grammar) A defective word.^[3][4]
2. A faulty product.^[4]
3. (offensive) A person with a physical or intellectual disability.^[3][4]

Word family

• defectively
• defectiveness
• nondefective

Related words

• defect
• defection
• defector
• deficiency
• deficient
• deficit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins