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faglia

fault (geological)

noun FAH-lyah Rare

Origin: French faille (crack, fault), from faillir (to fail).

Usage Note

Faglia is the standard Italian geological term for a tectonic fault line. Italy sits on major seismic fault systems, so the word appears frequently in news coverage of earthquakes. Do not confuse with falla (leak, flaw in a ship).

Examples

"Il terremoto fu causato da una faglia attiva."

Natural Translation

The earthquake was caused by an active fault.

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