falta

See also: faltà, faltá, fálta, and Falta

Basque

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish falta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /falta/ [fal̪.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -alta, -a
• Hyphenation: fal‧ta

Noun

falta ?

1. (sports) foul

Declension

Declension of falta (inan a-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	falta	falta	faltak	faltok
ergative	faltak	faltak	faltek	faltok
dative	faltari	faltari	faltei	faltoi
genitive	faltaren	faltaren	falten	falton
comitative	faltarekin	faltarekin	faltekin	faltokin
causative	faltarengatik	faltarengatik	faltengatik	faltongatik
benefactive	faltarentzat	faltarentzat	faltentzat	faltontzat
instrumental	faltaz	faltaz	faltez	faltotaz
innesive	faltatan	faltan	faltetan	faltotan
locative	faltatako	faltako	faltetako	faltotako
allative	faltatara	faltara	faltetara	faltotara
terminative	faltataraino	faltaraino	faltetaraino	faltotaraino
directive	faltatarantz	faltarantz	faltetarantz	faltotarantz
destinative	faltatarako	faltarako	faltetarako	faltotarako
ablative	faltatatik	faltatik	faltetatik	faltotatik
partitive	faltarik	—	—	—
prolative	faltatzat	—	—	—

Further reading

• “falta”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “falta”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈfal.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfal.ta]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *fallita, feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fallō. Compare Occitan fauta, Portuguese and Spanish falta, French faute.

Noun

falta f (plural faltes)

1. fault; error; mistake
2. lack, absence

   Synonyms: manca, mancança, mancament

Related terms

• fallir
• faltar

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falta

1. inflection of faltar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “falta”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “falta”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “falta” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “falta” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfalta/ [ˈfɑl̪.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -alta
• Hyphenation: fal‧ta

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese falta, from Vulgar Latin *fallita, feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fallō. Cognate to Catalan falta, English fault, Spanish falta and French faute.

Noun

falta f (plural faltas)

1. lack, shortage

   Non che é eso, senón que están reloucando pola falta do voto.

   That's not your problem, but they are raving about the lack of the vote.

2. fault, defect
3. infraction

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falta

1. inflection of faltar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative
2. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of faltar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “falta”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “falta”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “falta”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Hungarian

Etymology

fal +‎ -ta (personal suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɒltɒ]
• Hyphenation: fal‧ta

Verb

falta

1. third-person singular indicative past definite of fal

Irish

Noun

falta

1. plural of fala

Mutation

Mutated forms of falta

radical	lenition	eclipsis
falta	fhalta	bhfalta

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Italian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *fallita, derived from Classical Latin fallō (“to deceive; to be mistaken”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfal.ta/
• Rhymes: -alta
• Hyphenation: fàl‧ta

Noun

falta f (plural falte) (obsolete)

1. lack, shortage, deficiency

   Synonyms: (obsolete) diffalta, mancanza

2. error, fault

   Synonyms: (obsolete) diffalta, errore

Further reading

• falta in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese faltar and Spanish faltar and Kabuverdianu falta.

Verb

falta

1. to lack
2. to miss

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfaw.tɐ/ [ˈfaʊ̯.tɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfaw.tɐ/ [ˈfaʊ̯.tɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfaw.ta/ [ˈfaʊ̯.ta]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfal.tɐ/ [ˈfaɫ.tɐ]

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -altɐ, -awtɐ
• Hyphenation: fal‧ta

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese falta, from Vulgar Latin *fallita, feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fallō. Cognate to Catalan falta, English fault, Spanish falta and French faute.

Noun

falta f (plural faltas)

2. lack (the condition of not having, needing, or needing more of something)

   Synonym: (especially of something needed) carência

   Desmaiei por falta de água. ― I fainted due to lack of water.

   Nota-se a falta de problemas sociais nesta região. ― One can notice the lack of social issues in this region.

4. (education) absence; truancy (an instance of missing a class)

   Synonym: (also used in contexts other than classes) ausência

   Levei cinco faltas esse semestre. ― I got five absences this semester.

6. fault (a mistake, error, sin or transgression, especially a minor one)

   Sinto muito, foi uma falta minha. ― I’m sorry, it was my bad.

8. (sports) foul (breach of game rules)

   O goleiro teve que cometer uma falta para evitar o gol. ― The goalkeeper had to commit a foul to avoid the goal.

   Falta! ― Foul!

10. (soccer) direct free kick (free kick following a foul committed outside the penalty area)

    Quem vai bater a falta? ― Who will take the kick?

12. (only in sentir falta) the condition of missing someone or something

    Synonyms: saudade, saudades

    Sinto falta dos bons tempos. ― I miss the good old times.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:falta.

Derived terms

• falta de ar
• falta dupla
• falta pessoal
• falta técnica
• sem falta
• sentir falta

Related terms

• falir
• faltar

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falta

1. inflection of faltar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

falta

1. feminine singular of falto

Further reading

• “falta”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “falta”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfalta/ [ˈfal̪.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -alta
• Syllabification: fal‧ta

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *fallita, from the feminine of *fallitus, 'vulgar' past participle of Latin fallere. The preservation of initial /f/ is irregular, but Coromines & Pascual reject the possibility of the word being borrowed. Compare Portuguese falta, Catalan falta, French faute.

Noun

falta f (plural faltas)

1. lack, shortage
   • 2024 October 21, Lucía Franco, “Los antiabortistas abren cinco locales alrededor de la Clínica Dator para multiplicar su acoso a mujeres embarazadas”, in El País‎^[1], archived from the original on 22 October 2024:

     Desde la Asociación de clínicas acreditadas para la interrupción del embarazo (ACAI) aseguran que es imprescindible abordar ministerialmente la no resolución del problema, junto a otros asuntos tan importantes como la falta de formación profesional o los registros de objetores que están procurando una objeción a la carta que vulnera los derechos de las mujeres.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. absence
3. day absent
4. fault
5. (linguistics) mistake
6. (sports) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Derived terms

• a falta de
• doble falta
• echar en falta
• falta de respeto (“lack of respect”)
• hacer falta
• sacafaltas
• saque de falta
• sin falta
• suplefaltas

Related terms

• fallido
• faltar
• falto

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falta

1. inflection of faltar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

falta

1. feminine singular of falto

Further reading

• “falta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “falta”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[2] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 841

Tarifit

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish falta (“fault”). Compare Moroccan Arabic فالطة (fālṭa).

Noun

falta f (Tifinagh spelling ⴼⴰⵍⵜⴰ)

1. fault, mistake

   Synonym: reɣreḍ