*fau*

n. [ OE. defaute, OF. defaute, defalte, fem., F. défaut, masc., LL. defalta, fr. a verb meaning, to be deficient, to want, fail, fr. L. de- + fallere to deceive. See Fault. ] 1. A failing or failure; omission of that which ought to be done; neglect to do what duty or law requires; as, this evil has happened through the governor's default. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fault; offense; ill deed; wrong act; failure in virtue or wisdom. [ 1913 Webster ]

And pardon craved for his so rash default. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Regardless of our merit or default. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) A neglect of, or failure to take, some step necessary to secure the benefit of law, as a failure to appear in court at a day assigned, especially of the defendant in a suit when called to make answer; also of jurors, witnesses, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

In default of, in case of failure or lack of. [ 1913 Webster ] Cooks could make artificial birds and fishes in default of the real ones. Arbuthnot. --
To suffer a default (Law), to permit an action to be called without appearing to answer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Defaulted; p. pr. & vb. n. Defaulting. ] 1. To fail in duty; to offend. [ 1913 Webster ]

That he gainst courtesy so foully did default. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fail in fulfilling a contract, agreement, or duty. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To fail to appear in court; to let a case go by default. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To fail to perform or pay; to be guilty of neglect of; to omit; as, to default a dividend. [ 1913 Webster ]

What they have defaulted towards him as no king. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) To call a defendant or other party whose duty it is to be present in court, and make entry of his default, if he fails to appear; to enter a default against. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To leave out of account; to omit. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Defaulting unnecessary and partial discourses. Hales. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who makes default; one who fails to appear in court when court when called. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who fails to perform a duty; a delinquent; particularly, one who fails to account for public money intrusted to his care; a peculator; a defalcator. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] A suburb of a French city; also, a district now within a city, but formerly without its walls. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. fauces throat. ] Pertaining to the fauces, or opening of the throat; faucial; esp., (Phon.) produced in the fauces, as certain deep guttural sounds found in the Semitic and some other languages. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ayin is the most difficult of the faucals. I. Taylor (The Alphabet). [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ L. ] 1. (Anat.) The narrow passage from the mouth to the pharynx, situated between the soft palate and the base of the tongue; -- called also the isthmus of the fauces. On either side of the passage two membranous folds, called the pillars of the fauces, inclose the tonsils. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) The throat of a calyx, corolla, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) That portion of the interior of a spiral shell which can be seen by looking into the aperture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. fausset, perh. fr. L. fauces throat. ] 1. A fixture for drawing a liquid, as water, molasses, oil, etc., from a pipe, cask, or other vessel, in such quantities as may be desired; -- called also tap, and cock. It consists of a tubular spout, stopped with a movable plug, spigot, valve, or slide. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The enlarged end of a section of pipe which receives the spigot end of the next section. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Falchion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Pertaining to the fauces; pharyngeal. [ 1913 Webster ]

interj. [ Cf. Foh. ] An exclamation of contempt, disgust, or abhorrence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Falchion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Falcon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The arch over the dam of a blast furnace; the tymp arch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A fall or falling band. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

These laces, ribbons, and these faules. Herrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. faut, faute, F. faute (cf. It., Sp., & Pg. falta), fr. a verb meaning to want, fail, freq., fr. L. fallere to deceive. See Fail, and cf. Default. ] 1. Defect; want; lack; default. [ 1913 Webster ]

One, it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything that fails, that is wanting, or that impairs excellence; a failing; a defect; a blemish. [ 1913 Webster ]

As patches set upon a little breach
Discredit more in hiding of the fault. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A moral failing; a defect or dereliction from duty; a deviation from propriety; an offense less serious than a crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Geol. & Mining) (a) A dislocation of the strata of the vein. (b) In coal seams, coal rendered worthless by impurities in the seam; as, slate fault, dirt fault, etc. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Hunting) A lost scent; act of losing the scent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled,
With much ado, the cold fault cleary out. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Tennis) Failure to serve the ball into the proper court. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Elec.) A defective point in an electric circuit due to a crossing of the parts of the conductor, or to contact with another conductor or the earth, or to a break in the circuit. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

8. (Geol. & Mining) A dislocation caused by a slipping of rock masses along a plane of facture; also, the dislocated structure resulting from such slipping.

The surface along which the dislocated masses have moved is called the
fault plane. When this plane is vertical, the fault is a
vertical fault; when its inclination is such that the present relative position of the two masses could have been produced by the sliding down, along the fault plane, of the mass on its upper side, the fault is a
normal fault, or
gravity fault. When the fault plane is so inclined that the mass on its upper side has moved up relatively, the fault is then called a
reverse fault (or
reversed fault),
thrust fault, or
overthrust fault. If no vertical displacement has resulted, the fault is then called a
horizontal fault. The linear extent of the dislocation measured on the fault plane and in the direction of movement is the
displacement; the vertical displacement is the
throw; the horizontal displacement is the
heave. The direction of the line of intersection of the fault plane with a horizontal plane is the
trend of the fault. A fault is a
strike fault when its trend coincides approximately with the strike of associated strata (i.e., the line of intersection of the plane of the strata with a horizontal plane); it is a
dip fault when its trend is at right angles to the strike; an
oblique fault when its trend is oblique to the strike. Oblique faults and dip faults are sometimes called
cross faults. A series of closely associated parallel faults are sometimes called
step faults and sometimes
distributive faults. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

At fault, unable to find the scent and continue chase; hence, in trouble or embarrassment, and unable to proceed; puzzled; thrown off the track. --
To find fault, to find reason for blaming or complaining; to express dissatisfaction; to complain; -- followed by with before the thing complained of; but formerly by at. “Matter to find fault at.” Robynson (More's Utopia).

Syn. -- -- Error; blemish; defect; imperfection; weakness; blunder; failing; vice. -- Fault, Failing, Defect, Foible. A fault is positive, something morally wrong; a failing is negative, some weakness or falling short in a man's character, disposition, or habits; a defect is also negative, and as applied to character is the absence of anything which is necessary to its completeness or perfection; a foible is a less important weakness, which we overlook or smile at. A man may have many failings, and yet commit but few faults; or his faults and failings may be few, while his foibles are obvious to all. The faults of a friend are often palliated or explained away into mere defects, and the defects or foibles of an enemy exaggerated into faults. “I have failings in common with every human being, besides my own peculiar faults; but of avarice I have generally held myself guiltless.” Fox. “Presumption and self-applause are the foibles of mankind.” Waterland. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Faulted; p. pr. & vb. n. Faulting. ] 1. To charge with a fault; to accuse; to find fault with; to blame. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

For that I will not fault thee. Old Song. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geol.) To interrupt the continuity of (rock strata) by displacement along a plane of fracture; -- chiefly used in the p. p.; as, the coal beds are badly faulted. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To err; to blunder, to commit a fault; to do wrong. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If after Samuel's death the people had asked of God a king, they had not faulted. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who commits a fault. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Behold the faulter here in sight. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who makes a practice of discovering others' faults and censuring them; a scold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of finding fault or blaming; -- used derogatively. Also Adj. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of faults or sins. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a faulty manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality or state of being faulty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Round, even to faultiness. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Geol.) The state or condition of being faulted; the process by which a fault is produced. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without fault; not defective or imperfect; free from blemish; free from incorrectness, vice, or offense; perfect; as, a faultless poem. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. Pope.

Syn. -- Blameless; spotless; perfect. See Blameless.

-- Fault"less*ly, adv.-Fault"less*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Containing faults, blemishes, or defects; imperfect; not fit for the use intended. [ 1913 Webster ]

Created once
So goodly and erect, though faulty since. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Guilty of a fault, or of faults; hence, blamable; worthy of censure. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king doth speak . . . as one which is faulty. 2 Sam. xiv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Faunus, fr. favere to be favorable. See Favor. ] (Rom. Myth.) A god of fields and shepherds, differing little from the satyr. The fauns are usually represented as half goat and half man. [ 1913 Webster ]

Satyr or Faun, or Sylvan. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL.: cf. F. faune. See Faun. ] (Zool.) The animals of any given area or epoch; as, the fauna of America; fossil fauna; recent fauna. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to fauna. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who describes the fauna of country; a naturalist. Gilbert White. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.;pl. Fauni [ L. ] (Myth.) See Faun. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. W. llysowen eel, ll sounding in Welsh almost like fl. ] (Zool.) A young eel. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. fausse-braie. ] (Mil.) A second rampart, exterior to, and parallel to, the main rampart, and considerably below its level. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A tragedy by Goethe, commenced in 1772, and published as “Faust, ein Fragment” in 1790. Part 1, complete, was published as "Faust, eine Tragödie" in 1808; part 2, finished in 1831, was published in 1833. It has been translated into English by Bayard Taylor, Blackie, Anster, Hayward, Martin, and others (nearly 40 in all). Goethe accomplished the transformation of Faust from a common necromancer and conjurer into a personification of humanity, tempted and disquieted, but at length groping its way to the light. See Goethe. [ Century Dict. 1906 ]

2. An opera by Gounod (words, after Goethe, by Carré and Barbier) represented at the Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, March 19, 1859. [ Century Dict. 1906 ]

3. An opera by Spohr, first produced at Frankfurt in 1818. The words, which do not follow Goethe's play, are by Bernhard. [ Century Dict. 1906 ]

or , prop. n. Doctor Johann Faust, a person born at Kundling (Knittlingen), Würtemberg, or at Roda, near Weimar, and said to have died in 1538. He was a man of licentious character, a magician, astrologer, alchemist, and soothsayer, who boasted of performing the miracles of Christ. German legend has it that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge. It was believed that he was carried off at last by the devil, who had lived with him in the form of a black dog. [ Century Dict. 1906 ]

☞ The legends of Faust were gathered from the then recent traditions concerning him in a book which appeared at the book-fair at Frankfurt-on-the-Main in 1587. It was called "The History of Dr. Faustus, the Notorious Magician and Master of the Black Art, etc." Soon after its appearance it became known in England.

A metrical version of it into English was licensed by Aylmer, Bishop of London, before the end of the year. In 1588 there was a rimed version of it into German, also a translation into low German, and a new edition of the original with some slight changes. In 1689 there appeared a version of the first German Faust book into, French, by Victor Palma Cayet. The English prose version was made from the second edition of the original, that of 1588, and is undated, but probably was made at once. There was a revised edition of it in 1592. In 1592 there was a Dutch translation from the second German edition. This gives the time of the carrying off of Faustus by the devil as the night between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth of October, 1538. The English version also gives 1538 as the year, and it is a date, as we have seen, consistent with trustworthy references to his actual life. Marlowe's play ('The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus') was probably written in 1588, soon after the original story had found its way to England. He treated the legend as a poet, bringing out with all his power its central thought -- man in the pride of knowledge turning from his God. (Morley, Eng. Writers, IX. 254.)

This play was brought to Germany about the beginning of the 17th century, and, after passing through various developments on the stage, finally became a puppet-play, which is still in existence. Lessing wrote parts of two versions of the story. Müller, the painter, published two fragments of his dramatized life of Faust in 1778. Goethe's tragedy (which see) was not published till 1808. Klinger published a romance "Faust's Leben, Thaten und Höllenfahrt" (1791: Borrow translated it in 1826). Klingemann published a tragedy on the subject (1815), Heine a ballet "Der Doctor Faust, ein Tanzpoem" (1851), and Lenau an epic "Faust" (1836). W. G. Wills adapted a play from Goethe's "Faust," which Henry Irving produced in 1885. Calderon's play "El Magico Prodigioso" strongly resembles Goethe's and Marlowe's plays, though founded on the legend of St. Cyprian. [ Century Dict. 1906 ]

prop. adj. Pertainnig to or resembling or befitting Faust especially in insatiable striving for worldly knowledge and power even at the price of spiritual values; as, a Faustian pact with the devil.. [ WordNet 1.6 ]

‖n. [ F. See Faldistory. ] 1. An armchair; hence (because the members sit in fauteuils or armchairs), membership in the French Academy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Chair of a presiding officer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., contr. fr. favitor, fr. favere to be favorable: cf. F. fauteur. See Favor. ] A favorer; a patron; one who gives countenance or support; an abettor. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The king and the fautors of his proceedings. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. fauutrix: cf. F. fautrice. ] A patroness. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., dim. fr. fauve fawn-colored. ] (Zool.) A small singing bird, as the nightingale and warblers. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. fauces [ L. ] See Fauces.

‖ [ F. See False, and Pas. ] A false step; a mistake or wrong measure; especially, a slip or misstep in social etiquette; a blunder in conduct or manners that causes embarassment; as, he committed the faux pas of mentioning John's former wife. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. A censurer or caviler. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Apt to censure or cavil; faultfinding; captious. [ Obs. ] Whitlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. infaustus; pref. in- not + faustus fortunate, lucky. ] Not favorable; unlucky; unpropitious; sinister. [ R. ] Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of making unlucky; misfortune; bad luck. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who seeks out faults. [ 1913 Webster ]