Versagen

Versagen is a German noun meaning failure, breakdown, or malfunction. It denotes the act or result of not functioning as intended, whether of an organ, a device, a process, or an institution. The term is the nominalized form of the verb versagen, which means to fail, to break down, or to withhold. It is used across domains, from medicine and engineering to politics and everyday language.

In medicine, Versagen commonly describes organ failure: Herzversagen (heart failure), Nierenversagen (renal failure), Leberversagen (liver failure), and Multiorganversagen (failure of multiple organs). In medical usage, qualifiers such as akut (acute) or chronisch (chronic) specify the course. In engineering and technology, Versagen refers to malfunction or collapse of systems or components, e.g., Bauteilversagen (component failure), Systemversagen (system failure), or Softwareversagen.

In everyday language, Versagen can express a deficiency in performance or responsibility, as in politisches Versagen or Versagen eines Teams. Related terms include Ausfall (outage or failure), Fehlfunktion (malfunction), and Kollaps (collapse). Distinctions exist: Versagen emphasizes the breakdown of function rather than mere poor performance; Ausfall can be temporary, while Versagen often implies a more fundamental dysfunction. See also concepts in_failure analysis and safety engineering, where redundancy and prevention aim to mitigate Versagen.