A dialectal or archaic word meaning a lack, need, or deficiency; also a fault or flaw.
From Old French faut, from Latin fallere meaning 'to fail' or 'to deceive.' Related to 'fault,' this archaic form preserves an older stage of the word before modern English standardization.
This word is basically a fossil—you'll find it in Middle English texts and old legal documents, but it vanished from everyday speech as 'fault' and 'lack' took over its jobs!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.