Question: Does anyone know when and how *fail* became a noun? I'd love to see one of those charts that shows the date of origin and subsequent growth of this usage.

Answer: 
[Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fail) says:

> 
> Fail:
> 
> 
> The noun (e.g. *without fail*) is from
>  **late 13c.**, from O.Fr. *faile* "deficiency," from *falir*. The
>  Anglo-French form of the verb,
>  *failer*, came to be used as a noun, hence *[failure](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=failure)*.
> 
> 
>
Fail has been used as a noun with a quite different meaning by Rev John Davidson,DD in his book 'Old Aberdeenshire Ministers and their people' 1895.
He describes a parish school built in a day with dry-stone walls topped with FAIL or divot and a roof of open rafters covered by thatch.