breakdown vs fault

breakdown and fault both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
breakdown	Yes	No	No	No
fault	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, fault is a hyponym of breakdown; that is, fault is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than breakdown:

breakdown: a cessation of normal operation
fault: (electronics) equipment failure attributable to some defect in a circuit (loose connection or insulation failure or short circuit etc.)

Other hyponyms of breakdown include brake failure, engine failure, dud, misfire, outage, power failure, power outage.

breakdown (noun)	fault (noun)
the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue	a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
an analysis into mutually exclusive categories	(sports) a serve that is illegal (e.g., that lands outside the prescribed area)
a cessation of normal operation	the quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection
(biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action	responsibility for a bad situation or event
(chemistry) separation of a substance into two or more substances that may differ from each other and from the original substance	(electronics) equipment failure attributable to some defect in a circuit (loose connection or insulation failure or short circuit etc.)
a mental or physical breakdown	(geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
	an imperfection in an object or machine

breakdown (verb)	fault (verb)
	put or pin the blame on