The state or condition of being in default; a failure to meet legal or financial obligations.
From default + -ure (noun suffix), influenced by French legal terminology. This archaic term created an abstract noun form rarely used in modern English.
This word is nearly extinct—it appears mostly in dusty 400-year-old legal documents. Its disappearance shows how English prefers the simpler 'default' as both noun and verb, losing the old formal distinction that French and Latin still maintain.
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