Meaning

noun an imperfection in an object or machine

noun defect or weakness in a person's character

noun an imperfection in a plan or theory or legal document that causes it to fail or that reduces its effectiveness

originFrom Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”). Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0