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defect
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Etymology
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”).
Pronunciation
Noun
defect (plural defects)
- A fault or malfunction.
- a defect in the ear or eye; a defect in timber or iron; a defect of memory or judgment
- 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:
- Among boys little tenderness is shown to personal defects.
- 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):
- The quantity or amount by which anything falls short.
- 1824, Lydia Sigourney, Sketch of Connecticut:
- and the indefatigable application with which they have supplied the defects of early culture.
- (mathematics) A part by which a figure or quantity is wanting or deficient.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:defect
Derived terms
Related terms
Collocations
Adjectives often used with "defect"
- major, minor, serious, cosmetic, functional, critical, fatal, basic, fundamental, main, primary, principal, radical, inherent
Translations
fault or malfunction
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Verb
defect (third-person singular simple present defects, present participle defecting, simple past and past participle defected)
- (intransitive) To abandon or turn against; to cease or change one's loyalty, especially from a military organisation or political party.
- 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, “British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2013:
- Capitalizing on the restive mood, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, took out an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph this week inviting unhappy Tories to defect. In it Mr. Farage sniped that the Cameron government — made up disproportionately of career politicians who graduated from Eton and Oxbridge — was “run by a bunch of college kids, none of whom have ever had a proper job in their lives.”
- (military) To desert one's army, to flee from combat.
- (military) To join the enemy army.
- (law) To flee one's country and seek asylum.
Derived terms
Translations
to abandon; to change one's loyalty
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to desert; to flee combat
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to join the enemy
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to flee one's country and seek asylum
Further reading
- “defect”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “defect”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
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Dutch
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
defect (comparative defecter, superlative defectst)
Declension
Descendants
- Petjo: defèk
Noun
defect n (plural defecten, diminutive defectje n)
- a defect
Descendants
- → Indonesian: défèk
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Romanian
Etymology
Adjective
defect m or n (feminine singular defectă, masculine plural defecți, feminine and neuter plural defecte)
Declension
Noun
defect n (plural defecte)
Declension
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