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Origin and history of defect

defect(n.)

early 15c., "want or lack of anything," especially lack of something essential to perfection or completeness, from Old French defect and directly from Latin defectus "failure, revolt, falling away," noun use of past participle of deficere "to fail, desert," from de "down, away" (see de-) + combining form of facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

defect

defect(v.)

1570s, "to hurt, damage;" 1580s, "fail become deficient" (senses now obsolete); 1590s, "to desert, revolt," from Latin defectus, past participle of deficere "to fail, desert," from de "down, away" (see de-) + combining form of facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Related: Defected; defecting.

defect

also from 1570s

Entries linking to defect

defeat(v.)

late 14c., defeten, diffaiten, "overcome (with sorrow or anger)," from Anglo-French defeter, from Old French desfait, past participle of desfaire "to undo," from Vulgar Latin *diffacere "undo, destroy," from Latin dis- "un-, not" (see dis-) + facere "to do, perform," from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put."

From early 15c. as "bring ruination, cause destruction" (now obsolete in this sense); from late 15c. as "frustrate, prevent the success of." Sense of "deprive of something expected, desired or striven for" is from 1530s. Meaning "overcome in a contest of any kind" is from 1560s. Related: Defeated; defeating. Compare defect, deficient.

defector(n.)

"a seceder or deserter," 1660s, agent noun in Latin form from defect, or else from Latin defector "revolter," agent noun from deficere "to desert, revolt, fail," from de "down, away" (see de-) + combining form of facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Specifically of important persons who fled the Soviet-dominated countries to the West by 1953.

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fault
late 13c., faute, "deficiency," from Old French faute, earlier falte, "opening, gap; failure, flaw, blemish; lack, deficiency" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *fallita "a shortcoming, falling," from Latin falsus "deceptive, feigned, spurious," past participle of fallere "deceive, disap
flaw
early 14c., "a flake" (of snow), also in Middle English "a spark of fire; a splinter," from Old Norse flaga "stone slab, layer of stone" (see flag (n.2)), perhaps used here in an extended sense. Old English had floh stanes, but the Middle English form suggests a Scandinavian orig
desert
c. 1600, transitive, "to leave, abandon," either in a good or bad sense; 1640s, in reference to military service or duty, "leave without permission;" from French déserter "cause to leave," literally "undo or sever connection," from Late Latin desertare, frequentative of Latin des
mendacious
mendacium "a lie, untruth, falsehood, fiction," from mendax (genitive mendacis) "lying, deceitful," from menda "fault, defect..., carelessness in writing," from PIE root *mend- "physical defect, fault" (see amend (v.))....
mistake
A mistake is a false judgment or choice; it does not, as error sometimes does, imply moral obliquity, the defect being placed...wholly in the wisdom of the actor, and in its treatment of this defect the word is altogether gentle....
vice
"moral fault, wickedness," c. 1300, from Old French vice "fault, failing, defect, irregularity, misdemeanor" (12c.), from...Latin vitium "defect, offense, blemish, imperfection," in both physical and moral senses (in Medieval Latin also vicium;...
defective
mid-14c., "having a defect or flaw of any kind, inferior, in bad condition," from Old French défectif (14c.) and directly...from Late Latin defectivus "imperfect," from defect-, past-participle stem of deficere "to desert, revolt, fail," from de...
feel
Old English felan "to touch or have a sensory experience of; perceive, sense (something)," in late Old English "have a mental perception," from Proto-Germanic *foljanan (source also of Old Saxon gifolian, Old Frisian fela, Dutch voelen, Old High German vuolen, German fühlen "to f
flee
Old English fleon, flion "take flight, fly from, avoid, escape" (contracted class II strong verb; past tense fleah, past participle flogen), from Proto-Germanic *fleuhanan "to run away" (source also of Old High German fliohan, Old Norse flöja, Old Frisian flia, Dutch vlieden, Ger
fele
Old English feola, fela (West Saxon), feolo, feolu (Mercian, Northumbrian), "much, many, in large amounts, very," from a common Germanic adjective from Proto-Germanic *felu (source also of Old Saxon filo, Dutch veel, German viel, Old Norse fiol, Gothic filu), from PIE root *pele-

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