different between liability vs fault

English

Etymology

From liable +? -ity.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la???b?l?ti/
• Hyphenation: li?abil?ity

Noun

liability (countable and uncountable, plural liabilities)

1. An obligation, debt or responsibility owed to someone.
   • 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw

     "I was to say that Maw and Meggins disclaim all responsibility," continued the other. "They admit no liability at all, but in consideration of your son's services they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation."

2. A handicap that holds something back, a drawback, someone or something that is a burden to whoever is required to take care of them; an individual or action that exposes others to greater risk.
   • 2016 January 31, "Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?," Vanity Fair (retrieved 21 January 2016):

     Asked if at some point Huma becomes a liability to Hillary, the long-term Clinton insider replies, “It’s like anything else. I don’t think so, but you know I don’t have any idea. Hillary is very loyal, but she’s obviously pragmatic.”

3. The likelihood of something happening.
4. The condition of being susceptible to something.

Antonyms

• asset

Derived terms

• enterprise liability
• limited liability
• limited liability company
• secondary liability
• strict liability
• vicarious liability

Translations

Anagrams

• alibility

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