A mistake or weakness, especially one that causes something to go wrong; in geology, a crack in the Earth’s crust where movement happens.
From Old French “faute” meaning “lack, failing, error,” from Latin “fallita,” past participle of “fallere” meaning “to deceive.” It originally suggested a failure or defect.
A fault is literally a “failing,” which is why we say “it’s my fault” when we take responsibility. Geologists borrowed the word for cracks in the Earth where it “fails” to stay in one piece—and those failures reshape continents.
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