malfunction

English

WOTD – 7 March 2008

Etymology

A malfunctioning electronic display at Bras Basah MRT Station in Singapore

From mal- (“bad, incorrect”) + function.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌŋkʃən

Noun

malfunction (plural malfunctions)

1. Faulty functioning.

   Synonyms: dysfunction, misfunction

2. Failure to function.

Derived terms

• malfunction routine
• malfunction junction
• wardrobe malfunction

Translations

faulty functioning

• Bulgarian: неизправност (bg) f (neizpravnost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 故障 (zh) (gùzhàng)

• Dutch: slechte werking f
• Esperanto: malfunkciado
• Finnish: toimintahäiriö, virhetoiminta
• French: défaut de fonctionnement m
• Galician: mal funcionamento m
• German: Fehlfunktion f, Funktionsstörung (de) f
• Greek: δυσλειτουργία (el) f (dysleitourgía)
• Italian: malfunzionamento (it)
• Japanese: 故障 (ja) (こしょう, koshō)
• Korean: 고장 (ko) (gojang)
• Maori: turingongengonge
• Polish: wadliwe działanie n
• Portuguese: mau funcionamento m, funcionamento defeituoso m
• Russian: неиспра́вность (ru) f (neisprávnostʹ), сбой (ru) m (sboj)
• Spanish: funcionamiento defectuoso m, malfuncionamiento m
• Tagalog: salang-kimot, pagsalang-kimot
• Turkish: arıza (tr)
• Vietnamese: trục trặc (vi)

failure to function

• Dutch: stuk zijn n, storing (nl) f
• Finnish: toimintahäiriö
• French: défaut de fonctionnement m
• Galician: avaría (gl) f
• German: Fehlfunktion f, Funktionsstörung (de) f
• Greek: δυσλειτουργία (el) f (dysleitourgía)
• Italian: malfunzionamento (it)
• Maori: turingongengonge
• Polish: awaria (pl) f
• Portuguese: não-funcionamento m
• Russian: поло́мка (ru) f (polómka)

Verb

malfunction (third-person singular simple present malfunctions, present participle malfunctioning, simple past and past participle malfunctioned)

1. To function improperly.

   She told him the machine was poorly built, but they both knew that she was the one who had malfunctioned.

2. To fail to function.

Translations

to function improperly

• Finnish: toimia huonosti
• German: nicht funktionieren
• Polish: wadliwie działać impf
• Russian: пло́хо рабо́тать impf (plóxo rabótatʹ), барахли́ть (ru) impf (baraxlítʹ) (colloquial)
• Turkish: arızalanmak (tr)
• Welsh: camweithio
• ǃXóõ: ǁʻàa

to fail to function

• German: nicht funktionieren
• Korean: 고장이 나다 (gojang'i nada)
• Polish: nie działać impf
• Russian: не рабо́тать impf (ne rabótatʹ)
• Welsh: pallu gweithio
• ǃXóõ: ǁʻàa