An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/fehlen

by Friedrich Kluge

fehlen, verb, ‘to miss, want, err,’ from Middle High German vêlen, vœlen, ‘to fail, mistake, cheat, be wanting, miss’; borrowed in the Middle High German period (about 1200 A.D.) from French faillir, ‘to fail, miss, deceive,’ which again, like Italian fallire, is derived from Latin fallere. The word was also adopted by English in the 13th century; compare English fail, likewise Dutch feilen, ‘to fail, miss, deceive,’ Scandinavian (since the 14th century), feila.