feil

Feil is a noun in Norwegian that denotes an error, fault, or defect. It can also function as an adjective meaning wrong or faulty when used attributively or predicatively (feil svar, en feil løsning). In everyday language, phrases such as å gjøre feil (to make mistakes) and ta feil (to be mistaken) are common. The term is used across domains, including science, engineering, and computing, to describe deviations from correctness or expected outcomes. In computing, programfeil or feil i programvaren refer to software bugs or faults; in hardware, feil can describe defects.

Etymology: Feil has cognates across North Germanic languages. Norwegian feil is related to Danish fejl and Swedish fel, reflecting a common Proto-Germanic root related to error or fault. The sense of wrongness develops from the general concept of deviation from a norm.

In quality control and measurement, the word appears in terms like målefeil (measurement error) and other context-specific compounds describing deviations from accuracy.

In medicine and safety contexts, feil or feilvurdering can denote misclassification or adverse events in discussions about patient safety and risk assessment.

Notable uses: In everyday Norwegian, feil is a staple term used to discuss accuracy, reliability, and fault tolerance in systems and processes.

See also: error, mistake, fault, defect, wrong.