Etymologically
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defective

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈfɛktɪv/[1]

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

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