Afrikaans fout | ||
Albanian faji | ||
Amharic ስህተት | ||
Arabic خطأ | ||
Armenian մեղքով | ||
Assamese দোষ | ||
Aymara pantja | ||
Azerbaijani günah | ||
Bambara jalaki | ||
Basque akats | ||
Belarusian віна | ||
Bengali দোষ | ||
Bhojpuri दोष | ||
Bosnian greška | ||
Bulgarian грешка | ||
Catalan culpa | ||
Cebuano sayop | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 故障 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 故障 | ||
Corsican curpa | ||
Croatian kvar | ||
Czech chyba | ||
Danish fejl | ||
Dhivehi ކުށް | ||
Dogri गलती | ||
Dutch fout | ||
English fault | ||
Esperanto kulpo | ||
Estonian süü | ||
Ewe vodada | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kasalanan | ||
Finnish vika | ||
French faute | ||
Frisian fout | ||
Galician culpa | ||
Georgian ბრალი | ||
German fehler | ||
Greek σφάλμα | ||
Guarani angaipa | ||
Gujarati ખામી | ||
Haitian Creole fòt | ||
Hausa laifi | ||
Hawaiian hewa | ||
Hebrew אשמה | ||
Hindi दोष | ||
Hmong txhaum | ||
Hungarian hiba | ||
Icelandic sök | ||
Igbo mmejọ | ||
Ilocano basol | ||
Indonesian kesalahan | ||
Irish locht | ||
Italian colpa | ||
Japanese 障害 | ||
Javanese kaluputan | ||
Kannada ತಪ್ಪು | ||
Kazakh кінә | ||
Khmer កំហុស | ||
Kinyarwanda amakosa | ||
Konkani चूक | ||
Korean 결점 | ||
Krio fɔlt | ||
Kurdish şaşî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) هەڵە | ||
Kyrgyz күнөө | ||
Lao ຄວາມຜິດ | ||
Latin culpam | ||
Latvian vaina | ||
Lingala libunga | ||
Lithuanian kaltė | ||
Luganda omusango | ||
Luxembourgish feeler | ||
Macedonian грешка | ||
Maithili गलती | ||
Malagasy tsiny | ||
Malay kesalahan | ||
Malayalam തെറ്റ് | ||
Maltese tort | ||
Maori hē | ||
Marathi चूक | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯔꯥꯟꯕ | ||
Mizo diklohna | ||
Mongolian алдаа | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အမှား | ||
Nepali गल्ती | ||
Norwegian feil | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) cholakwika | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଦୋଷ | ||
Oromo dogoggora | ||
Pashto خطا | ||
Persian عیب | ||
Polish wina | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) culpa | ||
Punjabi ਨੁਕਸ | ||
Quechua hucha | ||
Romanian vina | ||
Russian вина | ||
Samoan sese | ||
Sanskrit दोषः | ||
Scots Gaelic locht | ||
Sepedi phošo | ||
Serbian грешка | ||
Sesotho phoso | ||
Shona kukanganisa | ||
Sindhi نقص | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) වරද | ||
Slovak chyba | ||
Slovenian napaka | ||
Somali cilad | ||
Spanish culpa | ||
Sundanese kalepatan | ||
Swahili kosa | ||
Swedish fel | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kasalanan | ||
Tajik айб | ||
Tamil தவறு | ||
Tatar гаеп | ||
Telugu తప్పు | ||
Thai ความผิด | ||
Tigrinya ጥፍኣት | ||
Tsonga xihoxo | ||
Turkish hata | ||
Turkmen ýalňyşlyk | ||
Twi (Akan) mfomsoɔ | ||
Ukrainian несправність | ||
Urdu غلطی | ||
Uyghur خاتالىق | ||
Uzbek ayb | ||
Vietnamese lỗi | ||
Welsh bai | ||
Xhosa impazamo | ||
Yiddish שולד | ||
Yoruba ẹbi | ||
Zulu iphutha |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word fout is derived from the Middle Dutch word vout, meaning "wrong," and is related to the English word "foul." |
| Albanian | The word "faji" in Albanian has an alternative meaning of "flaw", or "defect". |
| Amharic | "ስህተት" is derived from the Proto-Semitic root *šgṭ meaning "error, mistake, or fault". |
| Arabic | خطأ can also mean 'error', 'mistake', or 'incorrectness' |
| Armenian | "Մեղք" has the alternate meanings of "sin" and "debt" in Armenian, which are also related to its meaning of "fault". |
| Azerbaijani | "Günah" is also used in the sense of "the act of eating something forbidden by religious law" in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | The word "akats" in Basque, meaning "fault", has alternative meanings such as "deficiency" and "disability". |
| Belarusian | The word "віна" also means "guilt" or "sin" and is related to the Old Church Slavonic word "вина". |
| Bengali | The word "দোষ" in Bengali shares its etymology with other Indo-Aryan languages and carries additional meanings such as "flaw", "blemish", or "sin". |
| Bosnian | It comes from the Proto-Slavic word *grěhъ, which originally meant "sin". |
| Bulgarian | The word "грешка" can also refer to a "mistake" or "error". |
| Catalan | The word "culpa" in Catalan derives from the Latin word "culpa" meaning "blame" or "guilt" |
| Cebuano | The word "sayop" is a homonym that also means "mistake". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 故障 in Chinese can refer to a fault in machinery or an error in judgment or thinking. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 故障 in Chinese can mean a breakdown, malfunction, or error but can also mean a crime or wrongdoing |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "curpa" can also mean "sin" or "offence". |
| Croatian | The word "kvar" in Croatian also means "malfunction", "damage", or "defect", and comes from the Proto-Slavic word "kwara" meaning "blemish" or "disfigurement". |
| Czech | In Czech, "chyba" has alternate meanings including "mistake" and, archaically, "defect". |
| Danish | In Danish, "fejl" also means "error" or "mistake" and is related to the word "fail". |
| Dutch | The Dutch word “fout” can refer to a mistake, an error, or a flaw, but it also has a more archaic meaning of “evil” or “sinful.” |
| Esperanto | Esperanto's "kulpo" derives from Latin culpa, meaning blame or guilt, or French "coupable", meaning guilty. |
| Estonian | In Estonian the word "süü" can mean both "fault" and "accusation" and derives from "süüdistama" (to blame), which in turn derives from "süü". |
| Finnish | The Finnish word "vika" (fault) is related to the Old Norse word "vík" (bay), which referred to a geographical formation on the edge of the land. |
| French | "Faute" derives from the Old French word "faulte", meaning "lack" or "error", |
| Frisian | Frisian "fout" (fault) is thought to be derived from Middle Dutch "vut", a variation on "vrot" (rotten). |
| Galician | The Spanish "culpa" and the Galician "culpa" have slightly different meanings and etymology, but they are not mutually exclusive and often overlap, as they derive from Latin culp(p)a which, in turn, comes from the Indo-European *kel- "to conceal". |
| Georgian | Georgian "ბრალი" ("fault") may originate from a Proto-Kartvelian root meaning "to take" or "to receive". |
| German | Fehler originally referred to 'deviation' or 'mistake', not necessarily a 'fault'. |
| Greek | The word 'σφάλμα' originally meant 'trip' or 'misstep' and was later applied to errors in general. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "ખામી" is derived from Sanskrit, and can also mean "defect", "blemish" or "imperfection" |
| Haitian Creole | The word "fòt" in Haitian Creole can also refer to an error or mistake, as in the phrase "li fè yon fòt" ("he made a mistake"). |
| Hausa | The word laifi can also be translated to 'mistake' or 'error'. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word "hewa" also means "to miss, to err, to deviate, to mistake". |
| Hebrew | The term 'אשמה' also appears in rabbinic literature, where it refers to a legal obligation or debt. |
| Hindi | दोष (dosh) is a Hindi word meaning "fault", but it can also refer to a "sin", "defect", or "ailment". |
| Hmong | In the Hmong language 'txhaum', meaning “a fault,” also refers to "an inability to produce a desired outcome." |
| Hungarian | The word "hiba" also means "demerit" and "error" in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | "Sök" also means "lawsuit" in Icelandic, and is cognate with the English word "seek." |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "mmejọ" not only means "fault" but also refers to a "sin" or "wrongdoing against a deity or person." |
| Indonesian | "Kesalahan" can also mean "wrongdoing" or "mistake." |
| Irish | The word "locht" (fault) in Irish also means "defect" or "blemish" and is derived from the Proto-Celtic root *lok-to- (defect). |
| Italian | The Latin original is "culpa," meaning "guilt," with the secondary sense of "blame," from the PIE root "*kel-, |
| Japanese | 障害 in Japanese can also refer to mental impairments, disabilities, or challenges. |
| Javanese | In Javanese, "kaluputan" can also mean "mistake" or "error". |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ತಪ್ಪು" (fault) shares the root "tap" with "tapa" (heat, penance), suggesting an association with "doing something wrong" or "heating something up" when used in the sense of a "fault". |
| Kazakh | The word 'Кінә' also means 'sin' or 'guilt' in Kazakh. |
| Khmer | The word "កំហុស" can also mean "mistake" or "error". |
| Korean | "결점" originally meant "good point" in Chinese, but its meaning changed to "bad point" in Korean. |
| Kurdish | The word "şaşî" in Kurdish also refers to a "flaw" or "defect", particularly in the context of physical appearance or character. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "күнөө" in Kyrgyz can also mean "sin" or "guilt". |
| Latin | Culpa is Latin for fault or guilt, but its root culpa is related to sculpture, where it meant a flaw or error in a piece. |
| Latvian | The word "vaina" in Latvian can also refer to a "sheath" or "scabberd". |
| Lithuanian | "Kaltė" can also mean "guilt" in Lithuanian. |
| Luxembourgish | Feeler also means 'tentacles' or 'antennae' in German, from which it is derived. |
| Macedonian | According to Vasmer's dictionary, the word "грешка" is borrowed from Bulgarian and can also mean "sin". |
| Malagasy | "Tsiny" also means "misfortune" or "bad luck" in Malagasy. |
| Malay | Kesalahan' also translates to 'mistake', 'error', or 'wrongdoing' depending on the context |
| Malayalam | The word 'തെറ്റ്' in Malayalam can also mean 'a mistake' or 'an error'. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "tort" may derive from the Italian "torto," meaning "wrongful act," or the French "tort," meaning "harm." |
| Maori | The word "hē" in Maori can also mean "error", "mistake", or "defect". |
| Marathi | The word "चूक" in Marathi can also mean "mistake" or "error". |
| Mongolian | The word "алдаа" can also mean "mistake" or "error". |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "गल्ती" also refers to a slip or mistake made by a person. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "feil" is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "*fehila" meaning "crime" or "sin." |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Cholakwika" can mean either a fault (in a machine or circuit) or a mistake (in action or decision). |
| Pashto | "خطا" is also used to refer to 'mistake' or 'error', highlighting its broad semantic range. |
| Persian | "عیب" in Persian can also mean "blemish", "defect" or "weakness." |
| Polish | "Wina" in Polish also means "blame," "guilt," and "responsibility." |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "culpa" can also mean guilt, offense, and blame. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਨੁਕਸ" (fault) in Punjabi also refers to a small hole or defect in something. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "vină" (fault) also means "wine" in Romanian and "guilt" in French. |
| Russian | The Russian word "вина" (вина) can also mean "guilt" or "punishment". |
| Samoan | Sese has the alternate meaning of "a wrong". |
| Scots Gaelic | Scots Gaelic "locht" derives from Scottish Gaelic "loch" (a lake) and Proto-Germanic "*lok-." The latter is also the root of modern "lake" in English. |
| Serbian | The word "грешка" is also used to describe a mistake or error, and it can be traced back to the Old Church Slavonic word "грѣхъ" (sin). |
| Sesotho | The word "phoso" in Sesotho shares the same root with the word "posa" which means to put something down or to lay something flat. |
| Shona | The word 'kukanganisa' can also mean 'to miss', 'to make a mistake', or 'to fail to do something'. |
| Sindhi | The word "نقص" in Sindhi is derived from the Arabic word "نقص" meaning "deficiency" and is also used to describe a "disadvantage" or a "blemish". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වරද (varada) is cognate to the Sanskrit word 'varad' signifying 'giving', 'bestowal' or 'blessing' |
| Slovak | The word "chyba" can also mean "mistake" or "error" in Slovak. |
| Slovenian | The term 'napaka' has historically been used to describe both errors and sins |
| Somali | Somali cilad 'fault, error' from Arabic khalad 'fault, error, defect' from khtl 'be mistaken' |
| Spanish | "Culpa" is also used in Spanish to refer to a "crime" or "offence." |
| Sundanese | In addition to 'fault', 'kalepatan' can also mean 'misfortune' or 'weakness'. |
| Swahili | "Kosa" can also refer to a transgression against a rule or law. |
| Swedish | The word "fel" in Swedish originated from the German word "fehlen", meaning "to be absent", and its cognate "fail" exists in English. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "kasalanan" can also refer to a sin or transgression, which ultimately results in a fault or mistake. |
| Tajik | The word "айб" can also refer to a disgrace or a shame and is derived from the Old Persian word "aib" meaning "crime" or "offense". |
| Tamil | Tamil "தவறு" derives from Sanskrit "sthavir", originally meaning "old" or "senior", but evolved in Tamil to signify a "mistake". |
| Telugu | The word "తప్పు" can also be used to refer to a "mistake". |
| Thai | The Thai word "ความผิด" (fault) is also spelled "ความเป็นผิด" and can also refer to "wrongdoing" or "guilt". |
| Turkish | The word "hata" in Turkish has multiple meanings, including "fault", "mistake", and "error", and comes from the Arabic word "haṭā", meaning "to deviate from the right path". |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "несправність" (fault) also means "malfunction" or "defect" |
| Urdu | "غلطی" in addition to meaning "fault," also means "mistake" and "error." |
| Uzbek | The word "ayb" has been derived from the Persian word "aib", |
| Vietnamese | "Lỗi" is the Vietnamese word for an error or a mistake, but it can also refer to a sin or wrong-doing; a defect or a flaw; a shortcoming or a failing. |
| Welsh | Cognate with Latin "vitium" (blemish, defect) and with English "vice," its alternate meanings include "defect," "blemish," "flaw," "error," and "blemish in character." |
| Xhosa | The word "impazamo" can also be used as an adjective referring to something that is incorrect or broken. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "שולד" (shuld) can also refer to a "burden" or "responsibility." |
| Yoruba | Ẹbi, a Yoruba word meaning "fault," has a cognate in "ebi," meaning "sin" in the Edo language. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "iphutha" (fault) originates from the verb "phutha" (to err, to make a mistake), and also carries the meaning of "failing to meet a standard or requirement." |
| English | Etymology: Middle English faute, from Old French, from Late Latin fallita, alteration of fallata, feminine past participle of fallere, "to deceive". |