If someone hears the word falencia in Spain, it is very likely that they do not know its meaning, since it is a term typical of old Castilian Spanish and which is not currently used in ordinary language. However, among Latin American speakers it is a word in common use. For this reason, in most dictionaries, flaw is considered an Americanism.
Falencia comes from the Latin fallentis and originally meant "the one who deceives." It is worth pointing out that fallacy and fallacy share the same etymological root (fallacy is a lie with the appearance of truth). Upon its incorporation into the DRAE in the 18th century, failure was defined as "error or deception" with respect to a claim. Interestingly, falencia is also used in the Portuguese language, meaning functional deficiency.
Particularities in its use
A language is a living and changing entity. An illustrative example of this idea is the use of the word falencia in its different contexts and countries in which Spanish is spoken. An Argentine, a Peruvian or a Paraguayan uses this word as a synonym for lack or lack of something. In this way, one could say "there is a lack of environmental measures to protect endangered species" or "in public hospitals there are great shortcomings of advanced equipment." If we move to the Nicaraguan context, the word acquires another meaning, since it is equivalent to bankruptcy or bankruptcy of an establishment (the failure of traditional commerce in the capital implies a significant loss of jobs).
In the use of Spanish that is spoken in Chile, we find another variant of meaning; in this case it is synonymous with insolvency and is normally used in the legal field. In the Mexican context, failure is synonymous with error, so it could be said "failure in the lead of the team caused a zero draw" or "there were flaws in the communication strategy."
A brushstroke of Americanisms in our language
The philologists consider that the Americanisms are the own terms of the Spanish that is spoken in the Latin American context. The origin of the Americanisms is diverse: the old Castilian that was spoken in Spain until the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age, as well as some terms of the Amerindian languages that have been incorporated into Spanish (hammock, cacique or canoe) or even some English words adapted to our language and that are commonly used in America (apartment, bluyín, car or crack).
