different between fault vs blemish

English

Etymology

From Middle English faute, faulte, from Anglo-Norman faute, Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin *fallita (“shortcoming”), feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fall? (“deceive”). Displaced native Middle English schuld, schuild (“fault”) (from Old English scyld (“fault”)), Middle English lac (“fault, lack”) (from Middle Dutch lak (“lack, fault”)), Middle English last (“fault, vice”) (from Old Norse l?str (“fault, vice, crime”)). Compare French faute (“fault, foul”), Portuguese falta (“lack, shortage”) and Spanish falta (“lack, absence”). More at fail, false.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??lt/, /f?lt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /f?lt/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /f?lt/
• Rhymes: -??lt

Noun

fault (plural faults)

1. A defect; something that detracts from perfection.
2. A mistake or error.

3. A weakness of character; a failing.

4. A minor offense.
5. Blame; the responsibility for a mistake.
6. (seismology) A fracture in a rock formation causing a discontinuity.
7. (mining) In coal seams, coal rendered worthless by impurities in the seam.

8. (tennis) An illegal serve.
9. (electrical) An abnormal connection in a circuit.
10. (obsolete) want; lack
11. (hunting) A lost scent; act of losing the scent.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defect

Hyponyms

(seismology):

• normal fault
• reverse fault
• strike-slip fault
• thrust fault
• transform fault

Derived terms

Related terms

• default

Translations

Verb

fault (third-person singular simple present faults, present participle faulting, simple past and past participle faulted)

1. (transitive) To criticize, blame or find fault with something or someone.
   • a. 1723, unknown author, The Devonshire Nymph

     For that, says he, I ne'er will fault thee / But for humbleness exalt thee.

2. (intransitive, geology) To fracture.
3. (intransitive) To commit a mistake or error.
4. (intransitive, computing) To undergo a page fault.
   • 2002, Æleen Frisch, Essential system administration

     When a page is read in, a few pages surrounding the faulted page are typically loaded as well in the same I/O operation in an effort to head off future page faults.

Translations

References

French

Verb

fault

1. Obsolete spelling of faut (third-person singular present indicative of falloir)

German

Verb

fault

1. inflection of faulen:
   1. second-person plural present
   2. third-person singular present
   3. plural imperative

English

Etymology

From Middle English blemisshen, blemissen, from Old French blemiss-, stem of Old French blemir, blesmir (“make pale, injure, wound, bruise”) (French blêmir), from Old Frankish *blesmjan, *blasmijan (“to make pale”), from Old Frankish *blasmi (“pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“white, pale”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?el- (“to shine”). Cognate with Dutch bles (“white spot”), German blass (“pale”), Old English ?blered (“bare, uncovered, bald, shaven”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bl?m??/
• Hyphenation: blem?ish

Noun

blemish (plural blemishes)

1. A small flaw which spoils the appearance of something, a stain, a spot.
   • 1769, Oxford Standard Text, King James Bible, Leviticus, 22, xix,

     Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.

   • 1997, Jean Soler, 5: The Semiotics of Food in the Bible, Carole Counihan, Penny Van Esterik (editors), Food and Culture: A Reader, page 61,

     Any foot shape deviating from this model is conceived as a blemish, and the animal is unclean.

   • 2003, A. K. Forrest, Chapter 6: Surface Defect Detection on Ceramics, Mark Graves, Bruce Batchelor (editors), Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products, page 193,

     There are a very large number of types of blemish and the smallest blemish visible to a human can be surprisingly small, for example less than 10?m deep, which may be on the surface of a heavily embossed tile.
2. A moral defect; a character flaw.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defect

Related terms

• blemished (adjective)
• blemishless
• blemishment

Translations

Verb

blemish (third-person singular simple present blemishes, present participle blemishing, simple past and past participle blemished)

1. To spoil the appearance of.
   • 2009, Michael A. Kirkman, Chapter 2: Global Markets fo Processed Potato Products, Jaspreet Singh, Lovedeep Kaur (editors), Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology, page 40,

     Generally, varieties in current use for processing are resilient, if not wholly resistant to blemishing diseases and disorders.

   • 2011, Rob Imrie, Emma Street, Architectural Design and Regulation, unnumbered page,

     I mean it reaches a point of ridiculousness in some regards, and one?s seen actually many good schemes here in San Francisco, for example, that have been blemished by an overly strict adherence to codes.

2. To tarnish (reputation, character, etc.); to defame.
   • 1600, Francis Vere, Commentaries of the Divers Pieces of Service

     There had nothing passed betwixt us that might blemish reputation.

Translations