fail 
a coast, also a dam, dike, rampart, = E. wall : 
see wall 1 .'] Apiece cut off from the rest of the 
sward ; a turf ; a sod. 
The varyaut vesture of the venust vale 
Schrowdis the scherand fur, and euery/rtte 
Ouerfrett wyth fulzeis, and figuris fill dyuers. 
Gavin Douglas, tr. of Virgil, Prol. to xii., 1. ;J8. 
Fall, or feal, and divot, in Scots law, a servitude consist- 
ing in a right to lift fails or divots from a servient tene- 
ment, and to use them for the purposes of the dominant 
tenement, as for building, roofing, dikes, etc. 
fai! 3 t, n. A woman's upper garment. Halliwell. 
See faille. 
failancet (fa'lans), . [< OF. faiUance = Sp. 
falencia = Pg. fallencia = It. fallenza, < ML. 
falle-ntia, fault, failing, < L. fallen( t-)s, ppr. of 
failure (> OF. faillir, etc.), fail: see fail 1 .'] 
Failure. 
His sicknesses . . . made it necessary for him not to 
stir from his chair, or so much as read a letter for two 
hours after every meal, failance wherein being certainly 
reveng'd by a fit of the gout. Bp. Fell, Hammond. 
fail-dike (fal'dik), . 
turf. [Scotch.] 
In bellint yon auld fail-dyke 
I wot there lies a new-slain knight. 
The Tim Corlies (Child's Ballads, III. 61). 
2118 
faint 
it a criminal offense for * hank ..nicer to receive deposits H . Ado-nothing; a lazy, shiftless fellow, 
when he knows his Imnk t.. lie msnln-nt. l-aitinv is the foinhparH FMF i/iunlirtl < t'nhi 1 4- bpn/i ~\ 
popular and common name indicating the cessation of lainneaat, L 1 "-^- ./".'/""', <- jam'- f -fteaa.J 
business on account of <,/.^v/ir//, especially if produced Gladness, 
by the actual lack of money to meet some demand. Bank- Hit shall glade you full godely agaynes your gret anger, 
. 
/ is often in popular Use the s;une ;is /,/,s-<;/rcm'//, but 
it 18 more often used of the legal state of those who hav 
And tllle you with fannhed, in faithe I you hete. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2416. 
surrendered their property to their creditors on account *.* , ryj-.-iiio-i^iji-i i 
..f their insolvency, or of the proceedings ill connection fainlyt, '"'I'. [<./' 1 + -'/T-J Gladly; Wlthjoy. 
therewith : as, he is going through li,u,knii,t,-ii. Hux t ,,-n- 
sion, or stoppage of payment, is in the nature of tempo- 
rary failure, depending upon tempi >r;try disabilities not 
necessarily involving insolvency. Upon converting assets 
into money or getting an extension of credit, one who has 
suspended may be able to resume business. lnsolr> ur/i 
she's yane unto her west window, 
And/am^t/ aye it drew. 
The Jolly Goshawk (Child's liallads, III. 286). 
, fg ,^ r( MF f n ; Hfnfs f n i n 
(Jan lies), M. L\ M - t '- janillieg, Jain- 
/ < Jain 1 + -ness.] The state of being fam 
and bankruptcy, In the legal sense, continue, in respect to or content ; willingness ; compliance. 
past obligations, until the insolvent or bankrupt is for- 
mally discharged by the courts. 
fain 1 (fan), a. [Early mod. E. alsofayne; < ME. 
fain,fayn,fein,f(ein,fawen,fatrn,fagen, < AS. 
ftegen, glad, = OS.fagan = OHG.fagin = Icel. 
But the vnrewly multitude . . . pressed stil vpon him, 
lurfainnesse to heare the word of God out of his mouth. 
J. Udall, On Luke v. 
Sansculottism claps hands ; at which hand-clapping 
Foulon (in hls/aiuiwo, as his destiny would have it) also 
claps. Carlyle; French Rev., I. v. 9. 
.fawn 1 , v.), glad.] 1. faint (fant), a. and . [Also, and now usually, 
Glad; pleased; rejoiced: used absolutely or fol- in the lit. sense, feint; < HE.faynt,feynt, weak, 
feginn = Goth, "fagins (only in deriv. verb/o- 
ginon, rejoice: see^atH 1 , v., 
A wall built of fails or lowed by an infinitive : as, lam fain to see you. feeble, < OF. feint, faint, feigned, negligent, 
Thenne was I asfayn as foul on feir morwen [as a bird on sluggish, pp. olfeindre, faindre (= Pr. fenher), 
feign, refl. sham, work negligently: see feign, 
iSttCSa xi. l, wtawM formerly spelled/, according with 
a flue morning], 
Gladdore then the gleo-mon is of his grete giftes. 
failert (fa'ler), n. [< OF.failler, fail: inf. used 
as a noun: eee fail 1 and -er*.] Failure. [Rare.] 
Granting that Philip was the younger; yet on tlie/oifer 
or other legal interruption of the Line of Margaret, . . . 
the Queen of England might put in for the next Succes- 
sion. Ileylin, Hist. Presbyterians, p. 131. 
failing (fa'ling), . [< ME./%M<7; verbal n. of 
fail 1 , v.~\ The act or condition of one who 
fails ; imperfection ; weakness ; fault. 
And even Tufa failing! lean'd to virtue's side. 
Goldsmith, Des. Vil., 1. 164. 
Don't be too severe upon yourself and your own fail- 
ings ; keep on, don't faint, be energetic to the last. 
Sydney Smith, in Lady Holland, vi. 
Poets and artists, whose dearest failing is a lack of con- 
cern for people or things not associated with their own 
pursuits. Stedman, Poets of America, p. 307. 
= Syn. Foible, imperfection, shortcoming, weakness, in- 
firmity. 
faille (faly or fal), . [F.] If. Originally, a 
hood covering the face, worn by nuns of cer- 
tain orders ; also, a veil worn by women, and 
covering the head and shoulders, the word 
having different meanings at different periods 
from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. 
Hence 2f. The material of which such a gar- 
ment was made. 3. A silk fabric having a very 
light "grain" or cord, in distinction from otto- 
man, which has a heavy cord (gros grain), and 
from surah, which is twilled. 
The most important of the manufactures comprise . . . 
taffetas nA failles, black. A. Barlow, Weaving, p. 396. 
faillis (fa'lis), n. [Heraldic F., <faillir, fail.] 
In her., a fracture, notch, or gap in an ordinary 
or other bearing, as if a piece had been taken 
out. 
failure (fal'ur),. [=It.fallura; a,s f ail 1 + -lire.] 
1. A failing'; deficiency; default; cessation of 
supply or total defect : as, the failure of springs 
or streams ; failure of crops. 
It was provided that, in the event of the failure of the 
line of Philip, the Spanish throne should descend to the 
House of Savoy. Lecky, Eng. in 18th Cent., i. 
2. Omission; non-performance: as, ihe failure 
of a promise or an engagement. 
The free manner in which people of quality are dis- 
coursed on at such meetings is but a just reproach of 
their failures in this kind [in payment]. Steele. 
3. Decay, or defect from decay : as, the fail- 
ure of memory or of sight. 
He owed his death to a mere accident, to a little inad- 
vertency and failure of memory. South, Sermons. 
4. The act of failing, or the state of having 
failed to accomplish a purpose or attain an ob- 
ject ; want of success: as, the failures of life. 
It was his [Temple's] constitution to dread failure more 
than he desired success. Xacaulay, Sir William Temple. 
Emerson shows us the "success" of the bad man, and 
i\ie failures and trials of the good man. 
0. W. Holmes, Emerson, v. 
5. The condition of becoming bankrupt by rea- 
son of insolvency; confession of insolvency; a 
becoming insolvent or bankrupt : as, the failure 
of a merchant or a bank. 
Had Sir Walter's health lasted, he would have redeem- 
ed his obligations on account of llallantyne and Co. with- 
in eight or nine years at most from the time of his fail- 
ure. S. II. Hutton, Sir W. Scott, xv. 
Failure of consideration. See consideration. =Syn. 1. 
Decline, loss. 2. Neglect. 4. Miscarriage. 5. Failure, 
1 nsoloency, Bankruptcy, Suspension. ' ' Insolvency is a state ; 
failure, an act flowing out of that state ; and bankruptcy, 
an effect of that act " (Crabb). A bank may be insolvent 
that is, unable to pay all its debts without there being a 
public knowledge of the fact; it is a just law that makes 
T , 
I. . If. Feigned; simulated. 
What man is founde that was lost, 
With him is crist plesid &fayn. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 99. 
2. Glad, in a relative sense ; content or will- 
ing to accept an alternative to something bet- * Having or showing little force or earnest- 
ter but unattainable: followed by an infinitive: Ile88 t > " nt rV">iM - vi<,n,,. T,,,C 
as, he was/at to run away. 
When Hildebraud had accursed Henry IV., there were 
none so hardy as to defend their lord ; wherefore he was 
fain to humble himself before Hildebrand. Raleigh. 
I was fain to purchase peace by the price of a new 
pitcher. B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 107. 
fain 1 (fan), a*', [(.fain 1 , a.; prop, predicate 
adj.] Gladly; with pleasure or content: with 
would. [Archaic.] 
He is the man of the worlde that I icolde faynest kuowe 
this day. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 376. 
I would very fain have gone, had I not been indisposed. 
Thus lytherly, tho lyghera [liars] lappet their tales 
And forget a faint tale vnder fals colour. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 12590. 
, jr showing little force or earnest- 
forcible or vigorous; not active; 
wanting strength, energy, or heartiness : as, a 
faint resistance ; & faint exertion. 
It Is but -A t'ui/ni folk i-founded vp-on iapes. 
Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 47. 
The defects which hindered the conquest were the/aint 
prosecution of the war and the looseness of the civil gov- 
ernment. Sir J. Davies, State of Ireland. 
Damn v/\th faint praise, assent with civil leer. 
Pope, Pn>]. to Satires, 1. 201. 
A theme for Milton's mighty hand 
How much unmeet for us, & faint degenerate band ! 
Scott, Don Roderick, Int., st. :(. 
3. Having little spirit or animation; dispirit- 
ed; dejected; depressed. 
Do unto them as thou hast done unto me for all my 
Damjner, Voyages, II. i. 87. 
(fan), v. [Early mod. E. also fayne ; < .__ _ ^ 
ME./aJei,/ei'e)i, also faunen, fa gnien (whence transgressions : for my sighs are many, and my heart is 
mod. E. fawn 1 ), < AS. fcegenian, gefa-gnian = /"' Lam - ' 22 - 
leel.fagna = Goth, faginon (be glad), < fosgen, 4. Having little courage; cowardly; timorous, 
fain, glad : see fain 1 , a., and cf .fawn 1 , V., a dou- He shall be counted worse than a spy, yea, almost as 
blet of fain 1 , .] I. intratw. 1, To be fain; be evil as a traitor, that with a faint heart doth praise evil 
glad; rejoice. 
Faine mote the hille of Syon. 
Pa. xlvii. 12 (ME. version). 
2. To fawn. See fawn 1 , v. 
II. trans. 1. To fill with gladness; cause to 
rejoice. 
To God thatfaines mi youthede al. 
Pa. xlii. 4 (ME. version). 
Er thei specken to me feire tmAfatrnede me with wordes. 
Joseph ofArimathie (E. E. T. S.), p. 9. 
2. To wish; desire; long. 
If thou thus leeue thi wickid lijf, 
Myn aungils wolen the therotfayn. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 202. 
1 faine to tell the things that I behold. 
Spenser, Hymn of Heavenly Beauty, 1. 6. 
3. To acquiesce in ; accept with reluctance, as 
an alternative. 
fain' 2 t, " An obsolete spelling of feign (retained 
in the derivative faint). 
faineance (fa'ne-ans), . [< F. faineant.] The 
habit of doing nothing or of being idle ; indo- 
lence ; sloth. 
The mask of sneering faineance was gone; imploring 
tenderness and earnestness beamed from his whole coun- 
tenance. Kinffsley, Hypatia, xxvii. 
faineant (F. pron. fa-na-on'), a. and . [F., do- 
, OF. 
and noisome decrees. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), i. 
5. Having an intense feeling of weakness or 
exhaustion; inclined to swoon: as, faint with 
hunger; faint and sore with travel. 
The air hath got into my deadly wounds, 
And much effuse of blood doth make me faint. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. & 
Porphyro grew/ainf, 
She knelt so pure a thing, so free from mortal taint. 
Keats, Eve of St. Agnes. 
6f. Weak by reason of smallness or slender- 
ness; small; slender. [Rare.] 
In bigger bowes [boughs] fele, aud fainter fewe 
Brannches doo traile, and cutte hem bei this reason. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 71. 
7. Having little clearness or distinctness; 
hardly perceptible by or feebly affecting the 
senses ; indistinct ; deficient in brightness, viv- 
idness, or clearness, loudness, sharpness, or 
force; not well defined; feeble; dim: as, a 
faintlight; a, faint color; a faint resemblance. 
All distant and faint were the sounds of the battle. 
Scoff, Maid of Toro. 
Ever/rtmter grew 
In my weak heart the image of my love. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 301. 
As sea-water, having killed over-heat 
In a man's body, chills it with faint ache. 
Strinbume, Two Dreams. 
II. M. 1. One of the colored lines (usually 
nothing, < faire, do, + neant, nothing, OF. ne- 
ant, noiant, niant = Pr. neien, nien, nient = It. 
niente, nothing, < L. ne, not (or nee, nor, not), 
+ ML. en(t-)s, anything, a thing: see ens.] I. pale) on writing-paper. [A trade use.] 2. 
a. Literally, do-nothing; specifically, an epi- pi. The impure spirit which comes over first 
thet applied to the later Merovingian kings of and last in the distillation of whisky, the for- 
France, who were puppets in the hands of the* nier being called the strong, and the latter, 
mayors of the palace. which is much more abundant, the weak faints. 
The last king of the Merowingian line (les rois faine- Thi . 8 . c tle .?.P ir . it . i8 . much . impregnated with fetid essential 
ants), Chllderic III., was deposed with the consent of Pope 
Zacharias and placed in a monastery. 
Ploetz, Epitome (Tillinghast's revision), p. 184. 
" My signet you shall command with all my heart, mad- 
am," said earl Philip. ..." I am, you know, a complete 
Roy Faineant, and never once interfered with my Maire 
de Palais in her proceedings ! " 
Scott, Peveril of the Peak, xv. 
oil (fusel-oil); it is therefore very unwholesome, and must 
be purified by rectification. Ure. 
3. A fainting-fit ; a swoon. 
Seemed to me ne'er did limner paint 
So just an image of the Saint 
Who propped the Virgin in herfnlnt. 
Scott, Marmion, iv. 16. 
The night fell, and found me where he had laid me dur- 
ing my faint. R. L. Stevenson, The Dynamiter, p. 71. 
By the action of the party which in its successive phases 
has borne the names of Puritan, Whig, and Liberal, the faint (failt), r. [< ME. fainten, feyiiten ; < faint, 
Tudor autocracy has been reduced to a limited, or rather ] J jntrans. 1. To become weak in spirit ; 
a faineant, monarchy, and the Tory oligarchy . , . has , . .. i .. 
been replaced by a House of Commons elected on a more lose 8 P lnt or courage ; sink into dejection ; de- 
popular basis. Pop. Sei. Mo., XI. 739. spond ; droop. 
