faillir French · revision 17613

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1040, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la fallō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fa.jiʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''faillir'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*falliō]], a remaking of classical [[la|fallō|t=to deceive; to escape]], from which came the senses “to be lacking” and “to commit a fault”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin verb is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to a Germanic verb meaning “to fall” (compare [[en|fall]]), as Rey and Littré suggest.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The stem ⟨faill-⟩, regular in the third person plural of the present and in the imperfect, spread to the infinitive and the participle; forms with ⟨fau-⟩ in the present and future lasted until the 19th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the 15th century the verb split in two, giving [[falloir]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Cognate with [[it|fallire]], [[ca|fallir]] and [[es|fallecer|t=to die]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1040) has the future ''faldrat'', of a person failing someone; the ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''Falt li le coer'', “his heart fails him”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1165 Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for failing in a duty, and, from the 12th century it meant “to commit a fault” and “to be mistaken”, until the classical period.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The impersonal ''petit s'en faillit'', it nearly happened, is in the 13th century, and, from it came, in the 16th century, ''faillir à'' or ''de'', “to come close to” (Amyot, 1559: ''il faillit à lui couper la main'').^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi) This survives in the compound past with an infinitive, ''j'ai failli oublier'' (1757), the most common modern use;^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''faillir à son devoir'' and ''le cœur me faut'' are literary.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1040 – ''Faldrat'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Falt li le coer'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – “To fail in a duty”, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * 15th century – The split into ''faillir'' and ''falloir''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1559 – “To come close to”, in Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1757 – ''J'ai failli'' with an infinitive.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''Avoir failli'' + infinitive: to have nearly done or undergone something: ''j'ai failli tomber''.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(literary)'' ''Faillir à'': to fail in, neglect: ''faillir à son devoir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(literary)'' To fail someone: ''le cœur me faut''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(dated)'' To commit a fault; to be mistaken.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Sans faillir'': without fail.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[défaillir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[falloir]]

+ * [[faute]]

+ * [[défaut]]

+ * [[faillible]]

+ * [[infaillible]]

+ * [[faillite]]

+ * [[la|fallō]]

+ * [[en|fail]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary also records a verb ''faillir'' “to go bankrupt”, formed from [[faillite]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}