defect
nounverbattested in dialogue
- //ˈdiːfɛkt//
- //dɪˈfɛkt//
A fault or malfunction.
noun
- 1
A fault or malfunction.
a defect in the ear or eye; a defect in timber or iron; a defect of memory or judgment
Among boys little tenderness is shown to personal defects.
But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low.
Another major defect of the current literature dealing with the nomenclature of hybrid forms of English is the scant attention paid to the question of frequency.
- 2
The quantity or amount by which anything falls short.
and the indefatigable application with which they have supplied the defects of early culture.
- 3
A part by which a figure or quantity is wanting or deficient.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin de- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin facio Latin dēficiō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin dēfectusbor. English defect Borrowed from Latin defectus (“a failure, lack”), from deficere (“to fail, lack, literally 'undo'”), from past participle defectus, from de- (“of, from”) + facere (“to do”).
verb
- 1
To abandon or turn against; to cease or change one's loyalty, especially from a military organisation or political party.
- 2
To desert one's army, to flee from combat.
- 3
To join the enemy army.
- 4
To flee one's country and seek asylum.
Passing through Thailand, she submitted a handwritten statement agreeing to defect, a requirement for North Korean refugees to be allowed to enter the South.
Forms
- plural
- defects
- past tense
- defected
- past participle
- defected
- present participle
- defecting
- third person singular
- defects