French

Verb

faillir

1. to almost do something

   J'ai failli aller en Allemagne, mais j'ai annulé au dernier moment

   I almost went to Germany, but cancelled at the last minute

2. to fail

   Tu as failli à ta mission.

   You failed your mission.

Conjugation

This verb has two conjugations, one is older and irregular, but is in modern usage giving way to a conjugation like that of finir. It is hardly used except in the infinitive, past historic, and the composed tenses. The third-person singular present indicative faut is also found in certain set phrases.

Synonyms

• échouer (2) (more common than faillir)

Etymology 2

From faillite

Verb

faillir

1. to go bankrupt

Conjugation

This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French, from Vulgar Latin fallīre, from Latin fallere, present active infinitive of fallō.

Verb

faillir

1. to fail
   • circa 1369, Jean Froissart, Chroniques:

     quant les lances leur failloient, ils se prendoient aux haches

     when their lances failed them, they took up their axes

   • 1595, Michel de Montaigne, Essais, book II, chapter 37:

     Ou, s’il leur plait, ils se servent encore de cet empirement, et en font leurs affaires par cet autre moyen qui ne leur peut jamais faillir

     Or, if they preferred, they still made use of this deterioration, and did their affairs by this other means which could never fail them

Old French

Verb

faillir

1. Alternative infinitive of falir

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Descendants

• faillir