default English · revision 6195

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1250|origins=la fallere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪˈfɔːlt/, /dɪˈfɒlt/; noun also /ˈdiː.fɔːlt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English defaute, [[bor|fro|defaute|t=fault, defect, failure, lack]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) formed on [[m|fro|defaillir|t=to fail]] on the model of faute ([[fault]]) and faillir ([[fail]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) and partly from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|defalta|t=deficiency, failure]],^(Barnhart 1988) from Vulgar Latin [[m|la-vul|*defallita]],^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|dē-|t=away]] and [[m|la|fallere|t=to deceive, disappoint; to be wanting]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) Hoad also notes French défaut, a back-formation on defaute.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An offence, crime or sin: 1250 in the ''Ancrene Riwle'' in Barnhart, the early 13th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Absence or lack of something wanted is from before 1300 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A failing, a failure to act, is from about 1280 in Barnhart and the late 13th century in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and in law the failure to do something required, such as to appear in court, from 1292.^(OED 1989) ''In default of'', for want of, is from 1297.^(OED 1989) Spellings with l are recorded from 1393, but the OED notes that the l was not generally pronounced for at least two hundred years.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb meant to be lacking in the late 14th century, in the Wycliffe Bible,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and to fail to fulfil an obligation, especially a legal or financial one, from the late 15th century.^(Etymonline) The financial sense of the noun, failure to pay a debt, is first recorded in 1858,^(Etymonline) and the computing sense, a value or option used when no other is chosen, is from 1966.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1250 – an offence, sin.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1280 – a failure.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1292 – failure to appear in court.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1382 – the verb, to be lacking.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1858 – failure to pay.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1966 – in computing.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Failure to do what is required, especially to repay a debt or appear in [[court]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Failure to take part in or complete a contest, as in ''to win by default''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' An option or value used automatically unless another is chosen.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Absence or lack: ''in default of''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fail to do what is required, especially to fail to pay money when due.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To fail to appear in court, or to lose a case by not appearing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To revert automatically to a [[preset]] option.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[defaulter]]

+ * [[undefaulted]]

+ * [[nondefaulting]]

+ * [[undefaulting]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fault]]

+ * [[fail]]

+ * [[false]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}