F F (êf)

Defn: .

1. F is the sixth letter of the English alphabet, and a nonvocal consonant. Its form and sound are from the Latin. The Latin borrowed the form from the Greek digamma w consonant. The form and value of Greek letter came from the Phoenician, the ultimate source being probably Egyptian. Etymologically fis most closely related to p,k,v, and b; as in E. five, Gr. f, L. lupus, Gr. fox, vixen ; fragile, break ; fruit, brook, v. t.; E. bear, L. ferre. See Guide to Pronunciation, sq. root 178, 179, 188, 198, 230.

2. (Mus.)

Defn: The name of the fourth tone of the model scale, or scale of C. F sharp (F #) is a tone intermediate between F and G. F clef, the bass clef. See under Clef.

FA Fa, n. Etym: [It.] (Mus.) (a) A syllable applied to the fourth tone of the diatonic scale in solmization. (b) The tone F.

FABACEOUS Fa*ba"ceous, a. Etym: [L. fabaceus, fr. faba bean.]

Defn: Having the nature of a bean; like a bean.

FABELLA Fa*bel"la, n.; pl. Fabellae (-l. Etym: [NL., dim. of L. faba a bean.] (Anat.)

Defn: One of the small sesamoid bones situated behind the condyles of the femur, in some mammals.

FABIAN Fa"bi*an, a. Etym: [L. Fabianus, Fabius, belonging to Fabius.]

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or in the manner of, the Roman general, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus; cautious; dilatory; avoiding a decisive contest. Fabian policy, a policy like that of Fabius Maximus, who, by carefully avoiding decisive contests, foiled Hannibal, harassing his army by marches, countermarches, and ambuscades; a policy of delays and cautions.

FABLE Fa"ble, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. fabula, fr. fari to speak, say. See Ban, and cf. Fabulous, Fame.]

1. A Feigned story or tale, intended to instruct or amuse; a fictitious narration intended to enforce some useful truth or precept; an apologue. See the Note under Apologue. Jotham's fable of the trees is the oldest extant. Addison .

2. The plot, story, or connected series of events, forming the subject of an epic or dramatic poem. The moral is the first business of the poet; this being formed, he contrives such a design or fable as may be most suitable to the moral. Dryden.

3. Any story told to excite wonder; common talk; the theme of talk. "Old wives' fables. " 1 Tim. iv. 7. We grew The fable of the city where we dwelt. Tennyson.

4. Fiction; untruth; falsehood. It would look like a fable to report that this gentleman gives away a great fortune by secret methods. Addison.

FABLE Fa"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fabled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fabling.]

Defn: To compose fables; hence, to write or speak fiction ; to write or utter what is not true. "He Fables not." Shak. Vain now the tales which fabling poets tell. Prior. He fables, yet speaks truth. M. Arnold.

FABLE Fa"ble, v. t.

Defn: To fiegn; to invent; to devise, and speak of, as true or real; to tell of falsely. The hell thou fablest. Milton.

FABLER Fa"bler, n.

Defn: A writer of fables; a fabulist; a dealer in untruths or falsehoods. Br. Hall.

FABLIAU Fa`bli`au", n.; pl. Fabliaux . Etym: [F., fr. OF.fablel, dim. of fable a fable.] (Fr. Lit.)

Defn: One of the metrical tales of the Trouvères, or early poets of the north of France.

FABRIC Fab"ric, n. Etym: [L. fabrica fabric, workshop: cf. F. fabrique fabric. See Forge.]

1. The structure of anything; the manner in which the parts of a thing are united; workmanship; texture; make; as cloth of a beautiful fabric.

2. That which is fabricated; as : (a) Framework; structure; edifice; building. Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rose like an exhalation. Milton.

(b) Cloth of any kind that is woven or knit from fibers, either vegetable or animal; manufactured cloth; as, silks or other fabrics.

3. The act of constructing; construction. [R.] Tithe was received by the bishop, . . . for the fabricof the churches for the poor. Milman.

4. Any system or structure consisting of connected parts; as, the fabric of the universe. The whole vast fabric of society. Macaulay.

FABRIC Fab"ric, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fabricked; p. pr. & vb. n. Fabricking.]

Defn: To frame; to built; to construct. [Obs.] "Fabric their mansions." J. Philips.

FABRICANT Fab"ri*cant, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: One who fabricates; a manufacturer. Simmonds.

FABRICATE Fab"ri*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fabricated; p. pr. & vb. n. Fabricating.] Etym: [L. fabricatus, p.p. of fabricari, fabricare, to frame, build, forge, fr. fabrica. See Fabric, Farge.]

1. To form into a whole by uniting its parts; to frame; to construct; to build; as, to fabricate a bridge or ship.

2. To form by art and labor; to manufacture; to produce; as, to fabricate woolens.

3. To invent and form; to forge; to devise falsely; as, to fabricate a lie or story. Our books were not fabricated with an accomodation to prevailing usages. Paley.

FABRICATION Fab`ri*ca"tion, n. Etym: [L. fabricatio; cf. F. fabrication.]

1. The act of fabricating, framing, or constructing; construction; manufacture; as, the fabrication of a bridge, a church, or a government. Burke.

2. That which is fabricated; a falsehood; as, the story is doubtless a fabrication.

Syn. — See Fiction.

FABRICATOR Fab"ri*ca`tor, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: One who fabricates; one who constructs or makes. The fabricator of the works of Ossian. Mason.

FABRICATRESS Fab"ri*ca`tress, n.

Defn: A woman who fabricates.

FABRILE Fab"rile, a. Etym: [L. fabrilis, fr. faber workman. See Forge.]

Defn: Pertaining to a workman, or to work in stone, metal, wood etc.; as, fabrile skill.

FABULIST Fab"u*list, n. Etym: [Cf. F. fabuliste, fr. L. fabula. See Fable.]

Defn: One who invents or writes fables.

FABULIZE Fab"u*lize, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fabulized; p. pr. & vb. n. Fabulizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. fabuliser. See Fable.]

Defn: To invent, compose, or relate fables or fictions. G. S. Faber.

FABULOSITY Fab`u*los"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. fabulositas: cf. F. fabulosité.]

1. Fabulousness. [R.] Abp. Abbot.

2. A fabulous or fictitious story. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

FABULOUS Fab"u*lous, a. Etym: [L. fabulosus; cf. F. fabuleux. See Fable.]

1. Feigned, as a story or fable; related in fable; devised; invented; not real; fictitious; as, a fabulous description; a fabulous hero. The fabulous birth of Minerva. Chesterfield.

2. Passing belief; exceedingly great; as, a fabulous price. Macaulay. Fabulous age, that period in the history of a nation of which the only accounts are myths and unverified legends; as, the fabulous age of Greek and Rome. — Fab"u*lous*ly, adv. — Fab"u*lous*ness, n.

FABURDEN Fab"ur*den, n. Etym: [F. foux bpirdon. See False, and Burden a verse.]

1. (Mus.) (a) A species of counterpoint with a drone bass. (b) A succession of chords of the sixth. [Obs.]

2. A monotonous refrain. [Obs.] Holland.

FAC Fac, n. Etym: [Abbrev. of facsimile.]

Defn: A large ornamental letter used, esp. by the early printers, at the commencement of the chapters and other divisions of a book. Brande & C.

FACADE Fa`çade", n. Etym: [F., fr. It. facciata, fr. fassia face, L. facies. See Face.] (Arch.)

Defn: The front of a building; esp., the principal front, having some architectural pretensions. Thus a church is said to have its facade unfinished, though the interior may be in use.

FACE Face, n. Etym: [F., from L. facies form, shape, face, perh. from facere to make (see Fact); or perh. orig. meaning appearance, and from a root meaning to shine, and akin to E. fancy. Cf. Facetious.]

1. The exterior form or appearance of anything; that part which presents itself to the view; especially, the front or upper part or surface; that which particularly offers itself to the view of a spectator. A mist . . . watered the whole face of the ground. Gen. ii. 6. Lake Leman wooes me with its crystal face. Byron.

2. That part of a body, having several sides, which may be seen from one point, or which is presented toward a certain direction; one of the bounding planes of a solid; as, a cube has six faces.

3. (Mach.) (a) The principal dressed surface of a plate, disk, or pulley; the principal flat surface of a part or object. (b) That part of the acting surface of a cog in a cog wheel, which projects beyond the pitch line. (c) The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end; as, a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face.

4. (Print.) (a) The upper surface, or the character upon the surface, of a type, plate, etc. (b) The style or cut of a type or font of type.

5. Outside appearance; surface show; look; external aspect, whether natural, assumed, or acquired. To set a face upon their own malignant design. Milton. This would produce a new face of things in Europe. Addison. We wear a face of joy, because We have been glad of yore. Wordsworth.

6. That part of the head, esp. of man, in which the eyes, cheeks, nose, and mouth are situated; visage; countenance. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Gen. iii. 19.

7. Cast of features; expression of countenance; look; air; appearance. We set the best faceon it we could. Dryden.

8. (Astrol.)

Defn: Ten degrees in extent of a sign of the zodiac. Chaucer.

9. Maintenance of the countenance free from abashment or confusion; confidence; boldness; shamelessness; effrontery. This is the man that has the face to charge others with false citations. Tillotson.

10. Presence; sight; front; as in the phrases, before the face of, in the immediate presence of; in the face of, before, in, or against the front of; as, to fly in the face of danger; to the face of, directly to; from the face of, from the presenceof.

11. Mode of regard, whether favorable or unfavorable; favor or anger; mostly in Scriptural phrases. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee. Num. vi. 25. My face [favor] will I turn also from them. Ezek. vii. 22.

12. (Mining)

Defn: The end or wall of the tunnel, drift, or excavation, at which work is progressing or was last done.

13. (Com.)

Defn: The exact amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, or other mercantile paper, without any addition for interest or reduction for discount. McElrath.

Note: Face is used either adjectively or as part of a compound; as, face guard or face-guard; face cloth; face plan or face-plan; face hammer. Face ague (Med.), a form of neuralgia, characterized by acute lancinating pains returning at intervals, and by twinges in certain parts of the face, producing convulsive twitches in the corresponding muscles; — called also tic douloureux. — Face card, one of a pack of playing cards on which a human face is represented; the king, queen, or jack. — Face cloth, a cloth laid over the face of a corpse. — Face guard, a mask with windows for the eyes, worn by workman exposed to great heat, or to flying particles of metal, stone, etc., as in glass works, foundries, etc. — Face hammer, a hammer having a flat face. — Face joint (Arch.), a joint in the face of a wall or other structure. — Face mite (Zoöll.), a small, elongated mite (Demdex folliculorum), parasitic in the hair follicles of the face. — Face mold, the templet or pattern by which carpenters, ect., outline the forms which are to be cut out from boards, sheet metal, ect. — Face plate. (a) (Turning) A plate attached to the spindle of a lathe, to which the work to be turned may be attached. (b) A covering plate for an object, to receive wear or shock. (c) A true plane for testing a dressed surface. Knight. — Face wheel. (Mach.) (a) A crown wheel. (b) A Wheel whose disk face is adapted for grinding and polishing; a lap. Cylinder face (Steam Engine), the flat part of a steam cylinder on which a slide valve moves. — Face of an anvil, its flat upper surface. — Face of a bastion (Fort.), the part between the salient and the shoulder angle. — Face of coal (Mining), the principal cleavage plane, at right angles to the stratification. — Face of a gun, the surface of metal at the muzzle. — Face of a place (Fort.), the front comprehended between the flanked angles of two neighboring bastions. Wilhelm. — Face of a square (Mil.), one of the sides of a battalion when formed in a square. — Face of a watch, clock, compass, card etc., the dial or graduated surface on which a pointer indicates the time of day, point of the compass, etc. — Face to face. (a) In the presence of each other; as, to bring the accuser and the accused face to face. (b) Without the interposition of any body or substance. "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face." 1 Cor. xiii. 12. (c) With the faces or finished surfaces turned inward or toward one another; vis à vis; — opposed to back to back. — To fly in the face of, to defy; to brave; to withstand. — To make a face, to distort the countenance; to make a grimace. Shak.

FACE Face, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Faced; p. pr. & vb. n. Facing.]

1. To meet in front; to oppose with firmness; to resist, or to meet for the purpose of stopping or opposing; to confront; to encounter; as, to face an enemy in the field of battale. I'll face This tempest, and deserve the name of king. Dryden.

2. To Confront impudently; to bully. I will neither be facednor braved. Shak.

3. To stand opposite to; to stand with the face or front toward; to front upon; as, the apartments of the general faced the park. He gained also with his forces that part of Britain which faces Ireland. Milton.

4. To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon; as, a building faced with marble.

5. To line near the edge, esp. with a different material; as, to face the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress.

6. To cover with better, or better appearing, material than the mass consists of, for purpose of deception, as the surface of a box of tea, a barrel of sugar, etc.

7. (Mach.)

Defn: To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth; to dress the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); esp., in turning, to shape or smooth the flat surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical surface.

8. To cause to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular direction. To face down, to put down by bold or impudent opposition. "He faced men down." Prior. — To face (a thing) out, to persist boldly or impudently in an assertion or in a line of conduct. "That thinks with oaths to face the matter out." Shak

FACE Face, v. i.

1. To carry a false appearance; to play the hypocrite. "To lie, to face, to forge." Spenser.

2. To turn the face; as, to face to the right or left. Face about, man; a soldier, and afraid! Dryden.

3. To present a face or front.

FACED Faced, a.

Defn: Having (such) a face, or (so many) faces; as, smooth-faced, two-faced.

FACER Fa"cer, n.

1. One who faces; one who puts on a false show; a bold-faced person. [Obs.] There be no greater talkers, nor boasters, nor fasers. Latimer.

2. A blow in the face, as in boxing; hence, any severe or stunning check or defeat, as in controversy. [Collog.] I should have been a stercoraceous mendicant if I had hollowed when I got a facer. C. Kingsley.

FACET Fac"et, n. Etym: [F. facette, dim. of face face. See Face.]

1. A little face; a small, plane surface; as, the facets of a diamond. [Written also facette.]

2. (Anat.)

Defn: A smooth circumscribed surface; as, the articular facet of a bone.

3. (Arch.)

Defn: The narrow plane surface between flutings of a column.

4. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the numerous small eyes which make up the compound eyes of insects and crustaceans.

FACET Fac"et, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Faceted; p. pr. & vb. n. Faceting.]

Defn: To cut facets or small faces upon; as, to facet a diamond.

FACETE Fa*cete", a. Etym: [L. facetus elegant, fine, facetious; akin to facies. See Face, and cf. Facetious.]

Defn: Facetious; witty; humorous. [Archaic] "A facete discourse." Jer. Taylor. "How to interpose" with a small, smart remark, sentiment facete, or unctuous anecdote. Prof. Wilson. — Fa*cete"ly, adv. — Fa*cete"ness, n.

FACETED Fac"et*ed, a.

Defn: Having facets.

FACETIAE Fa*ce"ti*æ (, n. pl. Etym: [L., fr. facetus. See Facete.]

Defn: Witty or humorous writings or saying; witticisms; merry conceits.

FACETIOUS Fa*ce"tious, a. Etym: [Cf. F. facétieux. See Facetiæ.]

1. Given to wit and good humor; merry; sportive; jocular; as, a facetious companion.

2. Characterized by wit and pleasantry; exciting laughter; as, a facetious story or reply. — Fa*ce"tious*ly, adv. — Fa*ce"tious*ness, n.

FACETTE Fa*cette", n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: See Facet, n.

FACEWORK Face"work`, n.

Defn: The material of the outside or front side, as of a wall or building; facing.

FACIA Fa"ci*a, n. (Arch.)

Defn: See Fascia.

FACIAL Fa"cial, a. Etym: [LL. facialis, fr. L. facies face : cf. F. facial.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to the face; as, the facial artery, vein, or nerve. — Fa"cial*ly, adv. Facial angle (Anat.), the angle, in a skull, included between a straight line (ab, in the illustrations), from the most prominent part of the forehead to the front efge of the upper jaw bone, and another (cd) from this point to the center of the external auditory opening. See Gnathic index, under Gnathic.

FACIEND Fa"ci*end, n. Etym: [From neut. of L. faciendus, gerundive of facere to do.] (Mach.)

Defn: The multiplicand. See Facient,

2.

FACIENT Fa"cient, n. Etym: [L. faciens, — entis, p. pr. of facere to make, do. See Fact.]

1. One who does anything, good or bad; a doer; an agent. [Obs.] Br. Hacket.

2. (Mach.) (a) One of the variables of a quantic as distinguished from a coefficient. (b) The multiplier.

Note: The terms facient, faciend, and factum, may imply that the multiplication involved is not ordinary multiplication, but is either some specified operation, or, in general, any mathematical operation. See Multiplication.

FACIES Fa"ci*es, n. Etym: [L., from, face. See Face.]

1. The anterior part of the head; the face.

2. (Biol.)

Defn: The general aspect or habit of a species, or group of species, esp. with reference to its adaptation to its environment.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The face of a bird, or the front of the head, excluding the bill. Facies Hippocratica. (Med.) See Hippocratic.

FACILE Fac"ile a. Etym: [L. facilis, prop., capable of being done or made, hence, facile, easy, fr. facere to make, do: cf. F. facile. Srr Fact, and cf. Faculty.]

1. Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor. Order . . . will render the work facile and delightful. Evelyn.

2. Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable; readily mastered. The facile gates of hell too slightly barred. Milton.

3. Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty, austere, or distant; affable; complaisant. I meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet. B. Jonson.

4. Easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a fault; pliant; flexible. Since Adam, and his facile consort Eve, Lost Paradise, deceived by me. Milton. This is treating Burns like a child, a person of so facile a disposition as not to be trusted without a keeper on the king's highway. Prof. Wilson.

5. Ready; quick; expert; as, he is facile in expedients; he wields a facile pen. — Fac"ile-ly, adv. — Fac"ile*ness, n.

FACILITATE Fa*cil"i*tate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Facilitated; p. pr. & vb. n. Facilitating.] Etym: [Cf. F. faciliter. See Facility.]

Defn: To make easy or less difficult; to free from difficulty or impediment; to lessen the labor of; as, to facilitate the execution of a task. To invite and facilitate that line of proceeding which the times call for. I. Taylor.

FACILITATION Fa*cil`i*ta"tion, n.

Defn: The act of facilitating or making easy.

FACILITY Fa*cil"i*ty, n.; pl. Facilities. Etym: [L. facilitas, fr. facilis easy: cf. F. facilitFacile.]

1. The quality of being easily performed; freedom from difficulty; ease; as, the facility of an operation. The facility with which government has been overturned in France. Burke .

2. Ease in performance; readiness proceeding from skill or use; dexterity; as, practice gives a wonderful facility in executing works of art.

3. Easiness to be persuaded; readiness or compliance; — usually in a bad sense; pliancy. It is a great error to take facility for good nature. L'Estrange.

4. Easiness of access; complaisance; affability. Offers himself to the visits of a friend with facility. South.

5. That which promotes the ease of any action or course of conduct; advantage; aid; assistance; — usually in the plural; as, special facilities for study.

Syn. — Ease; expertness; readiness; dexterity; complaisance; condescension; affability. — Facility, Expertness, Readiness. These words have in common the idea of performing any act with ease and promptitude. Facility supposes a natural or acquired power of dispatching a task with lightness and ease. Expertness is the kind of facility acquired by long practice. Readiness marks the promptitude with which anything is done. A merchant needs great facility in dispatching business; a bunker, great expertness in casting accounts; both need great readiness in passing from one employment to another. "The facility which we get of doing things by a custom of doing, makes them often pass in us without our notice." Locke. "The army was celebrated for the expertness and valor of the soldiers." "A readiness obey the known will of God is the surest means to enlighten the mind in respect to duty."

FACING Fa"cing, n.

1. A covering in front, for ornament or other purpose; an exterior covering or sheathing; as, the facing of an earthen slope, sea wall, etc. , to strengthen it or to protect or adorn the exposed surface.

2. A lining placed near the edge of a garment for ornament or protection.

3. (Arch.)

Defn: The finishing of any face of a wall with material different from that of which it is chiefly composed, or the coating or material so used.

4. (Founding)

Defn: A powdered substance, as charcoal, bituminous coal, ect., applied to the face of a mold, or mixed with the sand that forms it, to give a fine smooth surface to the casting.

5. (Mil.) (a) pl.

Defn: The collar and cuffs of a military coat; — commonly of a color different from that of the coat. (b) The movement of soldiers by turning on their heels to the right, left, or about; — chiefly in the pl. Facing brick, front or pressed brick.

FACINGLY Fa"cing*ly, adv.

Defn: In a facing manner or position.

FACINOROUS Fa*cin"o*rous, a. Etym: [L. facinorous, from facinus deed, bad deed, from facere to make, do.]

Defn: Atrociously wicked. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor. — Fa*cin"o*rous*ness, n. [Obs.]

FACOUND Fac"ound, n. Etym: [F. faconde, L. facundia. See Facund.]

Defn: Speech; eloquence. [Obs.] Her facound eke full womanly and plain. Chaucer.

FACSIMILE Fac*sim"i*le, n.; pl. Facsimiles (-l. Etym: [L. fac simile make like; or an abbreviation of factum simile made like; facere to make + similes like. See Fact, and Simile.]

Defn: A copy of anything made, either so as to be deceptive or so as to give every part and detail of the original; an exact copy or likeness. Facsimile telegraph, a telegraphic apparatus reproducing messages in autograph.

FACSIMILE Fac*sim"i*le

Defn: , (

FACT Fact, n. Etym: [L. factum, fr. facere to make or do. Cf. Feat, Affair, Benefit, Defect, Fashion, and -fy.]

1. A doing, making, or preparing. [Obs.] A project for the fact and vending Of a new kind of fucus, paint for ladies. B. Jonson.

2. An effect produced or achieved; anything done or that comes to pass; an act; an event; a circumstance. What might instigate him to this devilish fact, I am not able to conjecture. Evelyn. He who most excels in fact of arms. Milton.

3. Reality; actuality; truth; as, he, in fact, excelled all the rest; the fact is, he was beaten.

4. The assertion or statement of a thing done or existing; sometimes, even when false, improperly put, by a transfer of meaning, for the thing done, or supposed to be done; a thing supposed or asserted to be done; as, history abounds with false facts. I do not grant the fact. De Foe. This reasoning is founded upon a fact which is not true. Roger Long.

Note: TheTerm fact has in jurisprudence peculiar uses in contrast with low; as, attorney at low, and attorney in fact; issue in low, and issue in fact. There is also a grand distinction between low and fact with reference to the province of the judge and that of the jury, the latter generally determining the fact, the former the low. Burrill Bouvier. Accessary before, or after, the fact. See under Accessary. — Matter of fact, an actual occurrence; a verity; used adjectively: of or pertaining to facts; prosaic; unimaginative; as, a matter-of- fact narration.

Syn. — Act; deed; performance; event; incident; occurrence; circumstance.

FACTION Fac"tion, n. Etym: [L. factio a doing, a company of persons acting together, a faction: cf. F. faction See Fashion.]

1. (Anc. Hist.)

Defn: One of the divisions or parties of charioteers (distinguished by their colors) in the games of the circus.

2. A party, in political society, combined or acting in union, in opposition to the government, or state; — usually applied to a minority, but it may be applied to a majority; a combination or clique of partisans of any kind, acting for their own interests, especially if greedy, clamorous, and reckless of the common good.

3. Tumult; discord; dissension. They remained at Newbury in great faction among themselves. Clarendon.

Syn. — Combination; clique; junto. See Cabal.

FACTIONARY Fac"tion*a*ry, a. Etym: [Cf. F. factionnaire, L. factionarius the head of a company of charioteers.]

Defn: Belonging to a faction; being a partisan; taking sides. [Obs.] Always factionary on the party of your general. Shak.

FACTIONER Fac"tion*er (-r), n.

Defn: One of a faction. Abp. Bancroft.

FACTIONIST Fac"tion*ist, n.

Defn: One who promotes faction.

FACTIOUS Fac"tious. a. Etym: [L. factiosus: cf. F. factieux.]

1. Given to faction; addicted to form parties and raise dissensions, in opposition to government or the common good; turbulent; seditious; prone to clamor against public measures or men; — said of persons. Factious for the house of Lancaster. Shak.

2. Pertaining to faction; proceeding from faction; indicating, or characterized by, faction; — said of acts or expressions; as, factious quarrels. Headlong zeal or factious fury. Burke. — Fac"tious*ly, adv. — Fac"tious-ness, n.

FACTITIOUS Fac*ti"tious, a. Etym: [L. factitius, fr. facere to make. See Fact, and cf. Fetich.]

Defn: Made by art, in distinction from what is produced by nature; artificial; sham; formed by, or adapted to, an artificial or conventional, in distinction from a natural, standard or rule; not natural; as, factitious cinnabar or jewels; a factitious taste. — Fac-ti"tious*ly, adv. — Fac*ti"tious-ness, n. He acquires a factitious propensity, he forms an incorrigible habit, of desultory reading. De Quincey.

Syn. — Unnatural. — Factitious, Unnatural. Anything is unnatural when it departs in any way from its simple or normal state; it is factitious when it is wrought out or wrought up by labor and effort, as, a factitious excitement. An unnatural demand for any article of merchandise is one which exceeds the ordinary rate of consumption; a factitious demand is one created by active exertions for the purpose. An unnatural alarm is one greater than the occasion requires; a factitious alarm is one wrought up with care and effort.

FACTITIVE Fac"ti*tive. a. Etym: [See Fact.]

1. Causing; causative.

2. (Gram.)

Defn: Pertaining to that relation which is proper when the act, as of a transitive verb, is not merely received by an object, but produces some change in the object, as when we say, He made the water wine. Sometimes the idea of activity in a verb or adjective involves in it a reference to an effect, in the way of causality, in the active voice on the immediate objects, and in the passive voice on the subject of such activity. This second object is called the factitive object. J. W. Gibbs.

FACTIVE Fac"tive, a.

Defn: Making; having power to make. [Obs.] "You are . . . factive, not destructive." Bacon.

FACTO Fac"to, adv. Etym: [L., ablative of factum deed, fact.] (Law)

Defn: In fact; by the act or fact. De facto. (Law) See De facto.

FACTOR Fac"tor, n. Etym: [L. factor a doer: cf. F. facteur a factor. See Fact.]

1. (Law)

Defn: One who transacts business for another; an agent; a substitute; especially, a mercantile agent who buys and sells goods and transacts business for others in commission; a commission merchant or consignee. He may be a home factor or a foreign factor. He may buy and sell in his own name, and he is intrusted with the possession and control of the goods; and in these respects he differs from a broker. Story. Wharton. My factor sends me word, a merchant's fled That owes me for a hundred tun of wine. Marlowe.

2. A steward or bailiff of an estate. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

3. (Math.)

Defn: One of the elements or quantities which, when multiplied together, from a product.

4. One of the elements, circumstances, or influences which contribute to produce a result; a constituent. The materal and dynamical factors of nutrition. H. Spencer.

FACTOR Fac"tor, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Factored (-trd); p. pr. & vb. n. Factoring.] (Mach.)

Defn: To resolve (a quantity) into its factors.

FACTORAGE Fac"tor*age, n. Etym: [Cf. F. factorage.]

Defn: The allowance given to a factor, as a compensation for his services; — called also a commission.

FACTORESS Fac"tor*ess, n.

Defn: A factor who is a woman. [R.]

FACTORIAL Fac*to"ri*al, a.

1. Of or pertaining to a factory. Buchanan.

2. (Math.)

Defn: Related to factorials.

FACTORIAL Fac*to"ri*al, n. (Math.) (a) pl.

Defn: A name given to the factors of a continued product when the former are derivable from one and the same function F(x) by successively imparting a constant increment or decrement h to the independent variable. Thus the product F(x).F(x + h).F(x + 2h) . . . F[x + (n-1)h] is called a factorial term, and its several factors take the name of factorials. Brande & C. (b) The product of the consecutive numbers from unity up to any given number.

FACTORING Fac"tor*ing, n. (Math.)

Defn: The act of resolving into factors.

FACTORIZE Fac"tor*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Factorized (-zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Factorizing (-"zng).] (Law) (a) To give warning to; — said of a person in whose hands the effects of another are attached, the warning being to the effect that he shall not pay the money or deliver the property of the defendant in his hands to him, but appear and answer the suit of the plaintiff. (b) To attach (the effects of a debtor) in the hands of a third person ; to garnish. See Garnish. [Vt. & Conn.]

FACTORSHIP Fac"tor*ship, n.

Defn: The business of a factor.

FACTORY Fac"to*ry, n.; pl. Factories (-r. Etym: [Cf. F. factorerie.]

1. A house or place where factors, or commercial agents, reside, to transact business for their employers. "The Company's factory at Madras." Burke.

2. The body of factors in any place; as, a chaplain to a British factory. W. Guthrie.

3. A building, or collection of buildings, appropriated to the manufacture of goods; the place where workmen are employed in fabricating goods, wares, or utensils; a manufactory; as, a cotton factory. Factory leg (Med.), a variety of bandy leg, associated with partial dislocation of the tibia, produced in young children by working in factories.

FACTOTUM Fac*to"tum, n.; pl. Factotums (-t. Etym: [L., do everything; facere to do + totus all : cf. F. factotum. See Fact, and Total.]

Defn: A person employed to do all kinds of work or business. B. Jonson.

FACTUAL Fac"tu*al, a.

Defn: Relating to, or containing, facts. [R.]

FACTUM Fac"tum, n.; pl. Facta. Etym: [L. See Fact.]

1. (Law)

Defn: A man's own act and deed; particularly: (a) (Civil Law) Anything stated and made certain. (b) (Testamentary Law) The due execution of a will, including everything necessary to its validity.

2. (Mach.)

Defn: The product. See Facient, 2.

FACTURE Fac"ture, n. Etym: [F. facture a making, invoice, L. factura a making. See Fact.]

1. The act or manner of making or doing anything; — now used of a literary, musical, or pictorial production. Bacon.

2. (Com.)

Defn: An invoice or bill of parcels.

FACULAE Fac"u*læ, n. pl. Etym: [L., pl. of facula a little torch.] (Astron.)

Defn: Groups of small shining spots on the surface of the sun which are brighter than the other parts of the photosphere. They are generally seen in the neighborhood of the dark spots, and are supposed to be elevated portions of the photosphere. Newcomb.

FACULAR Fac"u*lar a. (Astron.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the faculæ. R. A. Proctor.

FACULTATIVE Fac"ul*ta*tive, a. [L. facultas, -atis, faculty: cf. F. facultatif, G. fakultativ.]

1. Having relation to the grant or exercise faculty, or authority, privilege, license, or the like hence, optional; as, facultative enactments, or those which convey a faculty, or permission; the facultative referendum of Switzerland is one that is optional with the people and is necessary only when demanded by petition; facultative studies; — opposed to obligatory and compulsory, and sometimes used with to.

2. Of such a character as to admit of existing under various forms or conditions, or of happening or not happening, or the like; specif.: (Biol.)

Defn: Having the power to live under different conditions; as, a facultative parasite, a plant which is normally saprophytic, but which may exist wholly or in part as a parasite; — opposed to obligate.

3. (Physiol.) Pertaining to a faculty or faculties.

In short, there is no facultative plurality in the mind; it is a single organ of true judgment for all purposes, cognitive or practical. J. Martineau.

FACULTY Fac"ul*ty, n.; pl. Faculties. Etym: [F. facult, L. facultas, fr. facilis easy (cf. facul easily), fr. fecere to make. See Fact, and cf. Facility.]

1. Ability to act or perform, whether inborn or cultivated; capacity for any natural function; especially, an original mental power or capacity for any of the well-known classes of mental activity; psychical or soul capacity; capacity for any of the leading kinds of soul activity, as knowledge, feeling, volition; intellectual endowment or gift; power; as, faculties of the mind or the soul. But know that in the soul Are many lesser faculties that serve Reason as chief. Milton. What a piece of work is a man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in faculty ! Shak.

2. Special mental endowment; characteristic knack. He had a ready faculty, indeed, of escaping from any topic that agitated his too sensitive and nervous temperament. Hawthorne.

3. Power; prerogative or attribute of office. [R.] This Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek. Shak.

4. Privilege or permission, granted by favor or indulgence, to do a particular thing; authority; license; dispensation. The pope . . . granted him a faculty to set him free from his promise. Fuller. It had not only faculty to inspect all bishops' dioceses, but to change what laws and statutes they should think fit to alter among the colleges. Evelyn.

5. A body of a men to whom any specific right or privilege is granted; formerly, the graduates in any of the four departments of a university or college (Philosophy, Law, Medicine, or Theology), to whom was granted the right of teaching (profitendi or docendi) in the department in which they had studied; at present, the members of a profession itself; as, the medical faculty; the legal faculty, ect.

6. (Amer. Colleges)

Defn: The body of person to whom are intrusted the government and instruction of a college or university, or of one of its departments; the president, professors, and tutors in a college. Dean of faculty. See under Dean. — Faculty of advocates. (Scot.) See under Advocate.

Syn. — Talent; gift; endowment; dexterity; expertness; cleverness; readiness; ability; knack.

FACUND Fac"und, a. Etym: [L. facundus, fr. fari to speak.]

Defn: Eloquent. [Archaic]

FACUNDIOUS Fa*cun"di*ous, a. Etym: [L. facundiosus.]

Defn: Eloquement; full of words. [Archaic]

FACUNDITY Fa*cun"di*ty, n. Etym: [L. facunditas.]

Defn: Eloquence; readiness of speech. [Archaic]

FAD Fad, n. Etym: [Cf. Faddle.]

Defn: A hobby ; freak; whim. — Fad"dist, n. It is your favorite fad to draw plans. G. Eliot.

FADAISE Fa`daise", n. [F.]

Defn: A vapid or meaningless remark; a commonplace; nonsense.

FADDLE Fad"dle, v. i. Etym: [Cf. Fiddle, Fiddle-faddle.]

Defn: To trifle; to toy. — v. t.

Defn: To fondle; to dandle. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

FADE Fade a. Etym: [F., prob. fr. L. vapidus vapid, or possibly fr,fatuus foolish, insipid.]

Defn: Weak; insipid; tasteless; commonplace. [R.] "Passages that are somewhat fade." Jeffrey. His masculine taste gave him a sense of something fade and ludicrous. De Quincey.

FADE Fade, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Faded; p. pr. & vb. n. Fading.] Etym: [OE. faden, vaden, prob. fr. fade, a.; cf. Prov. D. vadden to fade, wither, vaddigh languid, torpid. Cf. Fade, a., Vade.]

1. To become fade; to grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish gradually; to wither, as a plant. The earth mourneth and fadeth away. Is. xxiv. 4.

2. To lose freshness, color, or brightness; to become faint in hue or tint; hence, to be wanting in color. "Flowers that never fade." Milton.

3. To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish. The stars shall fade away. Addison He makes a swanlike end, Fading in music. Shak.

FADE Fade, v. t.

Defn: To cause to wither; to deprive of freshness or vigor; to wear away. No winter could his laurels fade. Dryden.

FADED Fad"ed, a.

Defn: That has lost freshness, color, or brightness; grown dim. "His faded cheek." Milton. Where the faded moon Made a dim silver twilight. Keats.

FADEDLY Fad"ed*ly, adv.

Defn: In a faded manner. A dull room fadedly furnished. Dickens.

FADELESS Fade"less, a.

Defn: Not liable to fade; unfading.

FADER Fa"der, n.

Defn: Father. [Obs.] Chaucer.

FADGE Fadge, v. i. Etym: [Cf. OE. faden to flatter, and AS. f to join, unit, G. fügen, or AS. afægian to depict; all perh. form the same root as E. fair. Cf. Fair, a., Fay to fit.]

Defn: To fit; to suit; to agree. They shall be made, spite of antipathy, to fadge together. Milton. Well, Sir, how fadges the new design Wycherley.

FADGE Fadge, n. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.]

Defn: A small flat loaf or thick cake; also, a fagot. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

FADING Fad"ing, a.

Defn: Losing freshness, color, brightness, or vigor. — n.

Defn: Loss of color, freshness, or vigor. — Fad"ing*ly, adv. — Fad"ing*ness, n.

FADING Fad"ing, n.

Defn: An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song. "Fading is a fine jig." [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

FADME Fad"me, n.

Defn: A fathom. [Obs.] Chaucer.

FADY Fad"y, a.

Defn: Faded. [R.] Shenstone.

FAECAL Fæ"cal, a.

Defn: See Fecal.

FAECES Fæ"ces, n.pl. Etym: [L. faex, pl. faeces, dregs.]

Defn: Excrement; ordure; also, settlings; sediment after infusion or distillation. [Written also feces.]

FAECULA Fæc"u*la, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: See Fecula.

FAERY Fa"ër*y, n. & a.

Defn: Fairy. [Archaic] Spenser.

FAFFLE Faf"fle, v. i. Etym: [Cf. Famble, Maffle.]

Defn: To stammer. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

FAG Fag n.

Defn: A knot or coarse part in cloth. [Obs.]

FAG Fag, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fagged; p. pr. & vb. n. Fagging.] Etym: [Cf. LG. fakk wearied, weary, vaak slumber, drowsiness, OFries. fai, equiv. to fach devoted to death, OS. f, OHG. feigi, G. feig, feige, cowardly, Icel. feigr fated to die, AS. f, Scot. faik, to fail, stop, lower the price; or perh. the same word as E. flag to droop.]

1. To become weary; to tire. Creighton withheld his force till the Italian began to fag. G. Mackenzie.

2. To labor to wearness; to work hard; to drudge. Read, fag, and subdue this chapter. Coleridge.

3. To act as a fag, or perform menial services or drudgery, for another, as in some English schools. To fag out, to become untwisted or frayed, as the end of a rope, or the edge of canvas.

FAG Fag, v. t.

1. To tire by labor; to exhaust; as, he was almost fagged out.

2. Anything that fatigues. [R.] It is such a fag, I came back tired to death. Miss Austen. Brain fag. (Med.) See Cerebropathy.

FAGEND; FAG-END Fag"*end", n.

1. An end of poorer quality, or in a spoiled condition, as the coarser end of a web of cloth, the untwisted end of a rope, ect.

2. The refuse or meaner part of anything. The fag-end of business. Collier.

FAGGING Fag"ging, n.

Defn: Laborious drudgery; esp., the acting as a drudge for another at an English school.

FAGOT Fag"ot n. Etym: [F., prob. aug. of L. fax, facis, torch, perh. orig., a bundle of sticks; cf. Gr. Fagotto.]

1. A bundle of sticks, twigs, or small branches of trees, used for fuel, for raising batteries, filling ditches, or other purposes in fortification; a fascine. Shak.

2. A bundle of pieces of wrought iron to be worked over into bars or other shapes by rolling or hammering at a welding heat; a pile.

3. (Mus.)

Defn: A bassoon. See Fagotto.

4. A person hired to take the place of another at the muster of a company. [Eng.] Addison.

5. An old shriveled woman. [Slang, Eng.] Fagot iron, iron, in bars or masses, manufactured from fagots. — Fagot vote, the vote of a person who has been constituted a voter by being made a landholder, for party purposes. [Political cant, Eng.]

FAGOT Fag"ot v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fagoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fagoting.]

Defn: To make a fagot of; to bind together in a fagot or bundle; also, to collect promiscuously. Dryden.

FAGOTTO Fa*got"to, n. Etym: [It. See Fagot.] (Mus.)

Defn: The bassoon; — so called from being divided into parts for ease of carriage, making, as it were, a small fagot.

FAHAM Fa"ham, n.

Defn: The leaves of an orchid (Angraecum fragrans), of the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, used (in France) as a substitute for Chinese tea.

FAHLBAND Fahl"band`, n. Etym: [G., fr. fahl dun-colored + band a band.] (Mining)

Defn: A stratum in crystalline rock, containing metallic sulphides. Raymond.

FAHLERZ; FAHLBAND Fahl"erz, Fahl"band, n. Etym: [G. fahlerz; fahl dun-colored, fallow + erz ore.] (Min.)

Defn: Same as Tetrahedrite.

FAHLUNITE Fah"lun*ite, n. Etym: [From Falhun, a place in Sweden.] (Min.)

Defn: A hydration of iolite.

FAHRENHEIT Fah"ren*heit a. Etym: [G.]

Defn: Conforming to the scale used by Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit in the graduation of his thermometer; of or relating to Fahrenheit's thermometric scale. — n.

Defn: The Fahrenheit termometer or scale.

Note: The Fahrenheit thermometer is so graduated that the freezing point of water is at 32 degrees above the zero of its scale, and the boiling point at 212 degrees above. It is commonly used in the United States and in England.

FAIENCE Fa`ï*ence", n. Etym: [F., fr. Faenza, a town in Italy, the original place of manufacture.]

Defn: Glazed earthenware; esp., that which is decorated in color.

FAIL Fail v. i. [imp. & p. p. Failed; p. pr. & vb. n. Failing.] Etym: [F. failir, fr. L. fallere, falsum, to deceive, akin to E. fall. See Fail, and cf. Fallacy, False, Fault.]

1. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams fail; crops fail. As the waters fail from the sea. Job xiv. 11. Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign. Shak.

2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; — used with of. If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to their size. Berke.

3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink. When earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail. Milton.

4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails.

5. To perish; to die; — used of a person. [Obs.] Had the king in his last sickness failed. Shak.

6. To be found wanting with respect to an action or a duty to be performed, a result to be secured, etc.; to miss; not to fulfill expectation. Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. Ezra iv. 22. Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale. Shak.

7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired ; to be baffled or frusrated. Our envious foe hath failed. Milton.

8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken. Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not. Milton.

9. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent.

FAIL Fail, v. t.

1. To be wanting to ; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert. There shall not fail thee a man on the throne. 1 Kings ii. 4.

2. To miss of attaining; to lose. [R.] Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed. Milton.

FAIL Fail, n. Etym: [OF. faille, from failir. See Fail, v. i.]

1. Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; — mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail. "His highness' fail of issue." Shak.

2. Death; decease. [Obs.] Shak.

FAILANCE Fail"ance, n. Etym: [Of. faillance, fr. faillir.]

Defn: Fault; failure; omission. [Obs.] Bp. Fell.

FAILING Fail"ing, n.

1. A failing short; a becoming deficient; failure; deficiency; imperfection; weakness; lapse; fault; infirmity; as, a mental failing. And ever in her mind she cas about For that unnoticed failing in herself. Tennyson.

2. The act of becoming insolvent of bankrupt.

Syn. — See Fault.

FAILLE Faille, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: A soft silk, heavier than a foulard and not glossy.

FAILURE Fail"ure, n. Etym: [From Fail.]

1. Cessation of supply, or total defect; a failing; deficiency; as, failure of rain; failure of crops.

2. Omission; nonperformance; as, the failure to keep a promise.

3. Want of success; the state of having failed.

4. Decau, or defect from decay; deterioration; as, the failure of memory or of sight.

5. A becoming insolvent; bankruptcy; suspension of payment; as, failure in business.

6. A failing; a slight fault. [Obs.] Johnson.

FAIN Fain, a. Etym: [OE. fain, fagen, AS. fægen; akin to OS. fagan, Icel. faginn glad; AS. fægnian to rejoice, OS. faganon, Icel. fagna, Goth. faginon, cf. Goth. faheds joy; and fr. the same root as E. fair. Srr Fair, a., and cf. Fawn to court favor.]

1. Well-pleased; glad; apt; wont; fond; inclined. Men and birds are fain of climbing high. Shak. To a busy man, temptation is fainto climb up together with his business. Jer. Taylor.

2. Satisfied; contented; also, constrained. Shak. The learned Castalio was fain to make trechers at Basle to keep himself from starving. Locke.

FAIN Fain, adv.

Defn: With joy; gladly; — with wold. He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat. Luke xv. 16. Fain Would I woo her, yet I dare not. Shak.

FAIN Fain, v. t. & i.

Defn: To be glad ; to wish or desire. [Obs.] Whoso fair thing does fain to see. Spencer.

FAINEANCE; FAINEANCY Fai"ne*ance, Fai"ne*an*cy, n. [Cf. OF. faineance. See Fainéant.]

Defn: Do-nothingness; inactivity; indolence.

The mask of sneering faineance was gone. C. Kingsley.

FAINEANT Fai`né`ant", a. Etym: [F.; fait he does + néant nothing.]

Defn: Doing nothing; shiftless. — n.

Defn: A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard. Sir W. Scott.

FAINEANT DEITY Fainéant deity.

Defn: A deity recognized as real but conceived as not acting in human affairs, hence not worshiped.

FAINT Faint, a. [Compar. Fainter (-r); superl. Faintest.] Etym: [OE. faint, feint, false, faint, F. feint, p.p. of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See Faign, and cf. Feint.]

1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, faint with fatigue, hunger, or thirst.

2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly; dejected; depressed; as, "Faint heart ne'er won fair lady." Old Proverb.

3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as, a faint color, or sound.

4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts; faint resistance. The faint prosecution of the war. Sir J. Davies.

FAINT Faint, n.

Defn: The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a swoon. [R.] See Fainting, n. The saint, Who propped the Virgin in her faint. Sir W. Scott.

FAINT Faint, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fainting.]

1. To become weak or wanting in vigor; to grow feeble; to lose strength and color, and the control of the bodily or mental functions; to swoon; — sometimes with away. See Fainting, n. Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away. Guardian. If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by the way. Mark viii. 8.

2. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Prov. xxiv. 10.

3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish. Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye. Pope.

FAINT Faint, v. t.

Defn: To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to weaken. [Obs.] It faints me to think what follows. Shak.

FAINTHEARTED; FAINT-HEARTED Faint"*heart`ed, a.

Defn: Wanting in courage; depressed by fear; easily discouraged or frightened; cowardly; timorous; dejected. Fear not, neither be faint-hearted. Is. vii. 4. — Faint"*heart`ed*ly, adv. — Faint"*heart`ed*ness, n.

FAINTING Faint"ing, n.

Defn: Syncope, or loss of consciousness owing to a sudden arrest of the blood supply to the brain, the face becoming pallid, the respiration feeble, and the heat's beat weak. Fainting fit, a fainting or swoon; syncope. [Colloq.]

FAINTISH Faint"ish, a.

Defn: Slightly faint; somewhat faint. — Faint"ish*ness, n.

FAINTLING Faint"ling, a.

Defn: Timorous; feeble-minded. [Obs.] "A fainting, silly creature." Arbuthnot.

FAINTLY Faint"ly, adv.

Defn: In a faint, weak, or timidmanner.

FAINTNESS Faint"ness, n.

1. The state of being faint; loss of strength, or of consciousness, and self-control.

2. Want of vigor or energy. Spenser.

3. Feebleness, as of color or light; lack of distinctness; as, faintness of description.

4. Faint-heartedness; timorousness; dejection. I will send a faintness into their hearts. Lev. xxvi. 36.

FAINTS Faints, n.pl.

Defn: The impure spirit which comes over first and last in the distillation of whisky; — the former being called the strong faints, and the latter, which is much more abundant, the weak faints. This crude spirit is much impregnated with fusel oil. Ure.

FAINTY Faint"y, a.

Defn: Feeble; languid. [R.] Dryden.

FAIR Fair, a. [Compar. Fairer; superl. Fairest.] Etym: [OE. fair, fayer, fager, AS. fæger; akin to OS. & OHG. fagar, Isel. fagr, Sw. fager, Dan. faver, Goth. fagrs fit, also to E. fay, G. fügen, to fit. fegen to sweep, cleanse, and prob. also to E. fang, peace, pact, Cf. Fang, Fain, Fay to fit.]

1. Free from spots, specks, dirt, or imperfection; unblemished; clean; pure. A fair white linen cloth. Book of Common Prayer.

2. Pleasing to the eye; handsome; beautiful. Who can not see many a fair French city, for one fair French made. Shak.

3. Without a dark hue; light; clear; as, a fair skin. The northern people large and fair-complexioned. Sir M. Hale.

4. Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; favorable; - - said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.; as, a fair sky; a fair day. You wish fair winds may waft him over. Prior.

5. Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unincumbered; open; direct; — said of a road, passage, etc.; as, a fair mark; in fair sight; a fair view. The caliphs obtained a mighty empire, which was in a fair way to have enlarged. Sir W. Raleigh.

6. (Shipbuilding)

Defn: Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; fowing; — said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.

7. Characterized by frankness, honesty, impartiality, or candor; open; upright; free from suspicion or bias; equitable; just; — said of persons, character, or conduct; as, a fair man; fair dealing; a fair statement. "I would call it fair play." Shak.

8. Pleasing; favorable; inspiring hope and confidence; — said of words, promises, etc. When fair words and good counsel will not prevail on us, we must be frighted into our duty. L' Estrange.

9. Distinct; legible; as, fair handwriting.

10. Free from any marked characteristic; average; middling; as, a fair specimen. The news is very fair and good, my lord. Shak. Fair ball. (Baseball) (a) A ball passing over the home base at the height called for by the batsman, and delivered by the pitcher while wholly within the lines of his position and facing the batsman. (b) A batted ball that falls inside the foul lines; — called also a fair hit. — Fair maid. (Zoöl.) (a) The European pilchard (Clupea pilchardus) when dried. (b) The southern scup (Stenotomus Gardeni). [Virginia] — Fair one, a handsome woman; a beauty, — Fair play, equitable or impartial treatment; a fair or equal chance; justice. — From fair to middling, passable; tolerable. [Colloq.] — The fair sex, the female sex.

Syn. — Candid; open; frank; ingenuous; clear; honest; equitable; impartial; reasonable. See Candid.

FAIR Fair, adv.

Defn: Clearly; openly; frankly; civilly; honestly; favorably; auspiciously; agreeably. Fair and square, justly; honestly; equitably; impartially. [Colloq.] — To bid fair. See under Bid. — To speak fair, to address with courtesy and frankness. [Archaic]

FAIR Fair, n.

1. Fairness, beauty. [Obs.] Shak.

2. A fair woman; a sweetheart. I have found out a gift for my fair. Shenstone.

3. Good fortune; good luck. Now fair befall thee ! Shak. The fair, anything beautiful; women, collectively. "For slander's mark was ever yet the fair." Shak.

FAIR Fair, v. t.

1. To make fair or beautiful. [Obs.] Fairing the foul. Shak.

2. (Shipbuilding)

Defn: To make smooth and flowing, as a vessel's lines.

FAIR Fair, n. Etym: [OE. feire, OF. feire, F. foire, fr. L. fariae, pl., days of rest, holidays, festivals, akin to festus festal. See Feast.]

1. A gathering of buyers and sellers, assembled at a particular place with their merchandise at a stated or regular season, or by special appointment, for trade.

2. A festival, and sale of fancy articles. erc., usually for some charitable object; as, a Grand Army fair.

3. A competitive exhibition of wares, farm products, etc., not primarily for purposes of sale; as, the Mechanics' fair; an agricultural fair. After the fair, Too late. [Colloq.]

FAIR CATCH Fair catch. (Football)

Defn: A catch made by a player on side who makes a prescribed signal that he will not attempt to advance the ball when caught. He must not then be interfered with.

FAIR-HAIRED Fair"-haired`, a.

Defn: Having fair or light-colored hair.

FAIRHOOD Fair"hood, n.

Defn: Fairness; beauty. [Obs.] Foxe.

FAIRILY Fair"i*ly, adv.

Defn: In the manner of a fairy. Numerous as shadows haunting fairily The brain. Keats.

FAIRING Fair"ing, n.

Defn: A present; originally, one given or purchased at a fair. Gay. Fairing box, a box receiving savings or small sums of money. Hannah More.

FAIRISH Fair"ish, a.

Defn: Tolerably fair. [Colloq.] W. D. Howells.

FAIR-LEADER Fair"-lead`er, n. (Naut.)

Defn: A block, or ring, serving as a guide for the running rigging or for any rope.

FAIRLY Fair"ly, adv.

1. In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly. Even the nature of Mr. Dimmesdale's disease had never fairly been revealed to him. Hawthorne.

2. Favorably; auspiciously; commodiously; as, a town fairly situated for foreign traade.

3. Honestly; properly. Such means of comfort or even luxury, as lay fairly within their grasp. Hawthorne.

4. Softly; quietly; gently. [Obs.] Milton.

FAIR-MINDED Fair"-mind`ed, a.

Defn: Unprejudiced; just; judicial; honest. — Fair"*mind`ed*ness, n.

FAIR-NATURED Fair"-na`tured, a.

Defn: Well-disposed. "A fair-natured prince." Ford.

FAIRNESS Fair"ness, n.

Defn: The state of being fair, or free form spots or stains, as of the skin; honesty, as of dealing; candor, as of an argument, etc.

FAIR-SPOKEN Fair"-spo`ken, a.

Defn: Using fair speech, or uttered with fairness; bland; civil; courteous; plausible. "A marvelous fair-spoken man." Hooker.

FAIRWAY Fair"way`, n.

Defn: The navigable part of a river, bay, etc., through which vessels enter or depart; the part of a harbor or channel ehich is kept open and unobstructed for the passage of vessels. Totten. the rough.

FAIR-WEATHER Fair"-weath`er, a.

1. Made or done in pleasant weather, or in circumstances involving but little exposure or sacrifice; as, a fair-weather voyage. Pope.

2. Appearing only when times or circumstances are prosperous; as, a fair-weather friend. Fair-weather sailor, a make-believe or inexperienced sailor; — the nautical equivalent of carpet knight.

FAIR-WORLD Fair"-world` n.

Defn: State of prosperity. [Obs.] They think it was never fair-world with them since. Milton.

FAIRY Fair"y, n.; pl. Fairies. Etym: [OE. fairie, faierie, enchantment, fairy folk, fairy, OF. faerie enchantment, F. féer, fr. LL. Fata one of the goddesses of fate. See Fate, and cf. Fay a fairy.] [Written also faëry.]

1. Enchantment; illusion. [Obs.] Chaucer. The God of her has made an end, And fro this worlde's fairy Hath taken her into company. Gower.

2. The country of the fays; land of illusions. [Obs.] He [Arthur] is a king y-crowned in Fairy. Lydgate.

3. An imaginary supernatural being or spirit, supposed to assume a human form (usually diminutive), either male or female, and to meddle for good or evil in the affairs of mankind; a fay. See Elf, and Demon. The fourth kind of spirit [is] called the Fairy. K. James. And now about the caldron sing, Like elves and fairies in a ring. Shak.

5. An enchantress. [Obs.] Shak. Fairy of the mine, an imaginary being supposed to inhabit mines, etc. German folklore tells of two species; one fierce and malevolent, the other gentle, See Kobold. No goblin or swart fairy of the mine Hath hurtful power over true virginity. Milton.

FAIRY Fair"y, a.

1. Of or pertaining to fairies.

2. Given by fairies; as, fairy money. Dryden. Fairy bird (Zoöl.), the Euoropean little tern (Sterna minuta); — called also sea swallow, and hooded tern. — Fairy bluebird. (Zoöl.) See under Bluebird. — Fairy martin (Zoöl.), a European swallow (Hirrundo ariel) that builds flask-shaped nests of mud on overhanging cliffs. — Fairy rings or circles, the circles formed in grassy lawns by certain fungi (as Marasmius Oreades), formerly supposed to be caused by fairies in their midnight dances. — Fairy shrimp (Zoöl.), a European fresh-water phyllopod crustacean (Chirocephalus diaphanus); — so called from its delicate colors, transparency, and graceful motions. The name is sometimes applied to similar American species. — Fairy stone (Paleon.), an echinite.

FAIRYLAND Fair"y*land` n.

Defn: The imaginary land or abode of fairies.

FAIRYLIKE Fair"y*like`, a.

Defn: Resembling a fairy, or what is made or done be fairies; as, fairylike music.

FAITH Faith, n. Etym: [OE. feith, fayth, fay, OF. feid, feit, fei, F. foi, fr. L. fides; akin to fidere to trust, Gr. th is perhaps due to the influence of such words as truth, health, wealth. See Bid, Bide, and cf. Confide, Defy, Fealty.]

1. Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.

2. The assent of the mind to the statement or proposition of another, on the ground of the manifest truth of what he utters; firm and earnest belief, on probable evidence of any kind, especially in regard to important moral truth. Faith, that is, fidelity, — the fealty of the finite will and understanding to the reason. Coleridge.

3. (Theol.) (a) The belief in the historic truthfulness of the Scripture narrative, and the supernatural origin of its teachings, sometimes called historical and speculative faith. (b) The belief in the facts and truth of the Scriptures, with a practical love of them; especially, that confiding and affectionate belief in the person and work of Christ, which affects the character and life, and makes a man a true Christian, — called a practical, evangelical, or saving faith. Without faith it is impossible to please him [God]. Heb. xi. 6. The faith of the gospel is that emotion of the mind which is called "trust" or "confidence" exercised toward the moral character of God, and particularly of the Savior. Dr. T. Dwight. Faith is an affectionate, practical confidence in the testimony of God. J. Hawes.

4. That which is believed on any subject, whether in science, politics, or religion; especially (Theol.), a system of religious belief of any kind; as, the Jewish or Mohammedan faith; and especially, the system of truth taught by Christ; as, the Christian faith; also, the creed or belief of a Christian society or church. Which to believe of her, Must be a faith that reason without miracle Could never plant in me. Shak. Now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. Gal. i. 23.

5. Fidelity to one's promises, or allegiance to duty, or to a person honored and beloved; loyalty. Children in whom is no faith. Deut. xxvii. 20. Whose failing, while her faith to me remains, I should conceal. Milton.

6. Word or honor pledged; promise given; fidelity; as, he violated his faith. For you alone I broke me faith with injured Palamon. Dryden.

7. Credibility or truth. [R.] The faith of the foregoing narrative. Mitford. Act of faith. See Auto-da-fé. — Breach of faith, Confession of faith, etc. See under Breach, Confession, etc. — Faith cure, a method or practice of treating diseases by prayer and the exercise of faith in God. — In good faith, with perfect sincerity.

FAITH Faith, interj.

Defn: By my faith; in truth; verily.

FAITHED Faithed, a.

Defn: Having faith or a faith; honest; sincere. [Obs.] "Make thy words faithed." Shak.

FAITHFUL Faith"ful, a.

1. Full of faith, or having faith; disposed to believe, especially in the declarations and promises of God. You are not faithful, sir. B. Jonson.

2. Firm in adherence to promises, oaths, contracts, treaties, or other engagements. The faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him. Deut. vii. 9.

3. True and constant in affection or allegiance to a person to whom one is bound by a vow, be ties of love, gratitude, or honor, as to a husband, a prince, a friend; firm in the observance of duty; loyal; of true fidelity; as, a faithful husband or servant. So spake the seraph Abdiel, faithful found, Among the faithless, faithful only he. Milton.

4. Worthy of confidence and belief; conformable to truth ot fact; exact; accurate; as, a faithful narrative or representation. It is a faithful saying. 2 Tim. ii. 11. The Faithful, the adherents of any system of religious belief; esp. used as an epithet of the followers of Mohammed.

Syn. — Trusty; honest; upright; sincere; veracious; trustworthy. — Faith"ful*ly, adv. -Faith"ful*ness, n.

FAITHLESS Faith"less, a.

1. Not believing; not giving credit. Be not faithless, but believing. John xx. 27.

2. Not believing on God or religion; specifically, not believing in the Christian religion. Shak.

3. Not observant of promises or covenants.

4. Not true to allegiance, duty, or vows; perfidious; trecherous; disloyal; not of true fidelity; inconstant, as a husband or a wife. A most unnatural and faithless service. Shak.

5. Serving to disappoint or deceive; delusive; unsatisfying. "Yonder faithless phantom." Goldsmith. — Faith"less*ly, adv.Faith"less*ness, n.

FAITOUR Fai"tour, n. Etym: [OF. faitor a doer, L. factor. See Factor.]

Defn: A doer or actor; particularly, an evil doer; a scoundrel. [Obs.] Lo! faitour, there thy meed unto thee take. Spenser.

FAKE Fake, n. Etym: [Cf. Scot. faik fold, stratum of stone, AS. fæc space, interval, G. fach compartment, partition, row, and E. fay to fit.] (Naut.)

Defn: One of the circles or windings of a cable or hawser, as it lies in a coil; a single turn or coil.

FAKE Fake, v. t. (Naut.)

Defn: To coil (a rope, line, or hawser), by winding alternately in opposite directions, in layers usually of zigzag or figure of eight form,, to prevent twisting when running out. Faking box, a box in which a long rope is faked; used in the life-saving service for a line attached to a shot.

FAKE Fake, v. t. Etym: [Cf. Gael. faigh to get, acquire, reach, or OD. facken to catch or gripe.] [Slang in all its senses.]

1. To cheat; to swindle; to steal; to rob.

2. To make; to construct; to do.

3. To manipulate fraudulently, so as to make an object appear better or other than it really is; as, to fake a bulldog, by burning his upper lip and thus artificially shortening it.

FAKE Fake, n.

Defn: A trick; a swindle. [Slang]

FAKER Fak"er, n. [Often erroneously written fakir.]

Defn: One who fakes something, as a thief, a peddler of petty things, a workman who dresses things up, etc. [Slang]

FAKIR Fa"kir, n. Etym: [Ar. faqir poor.]

Defn: An Oriental religious ascetic or begging monk. [Written also faquir anf fakeer.]

FALANAKA Fa"la*na"ka, n. Etym: [Native name.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A viverrine mammal of Madagascar (Eupleres Goudotii), allied to the civet; — called also Falanouc.

FALCADE Fal*cade" (fâl*kad"), n. Etym: [F., ultimately fr. L. falx, falcis, a sickle or scythe.] (Man.)

Defn: The action of a horse, when he throws himself on his haunches two or three times, bending himself, as it were, in very quick curvets. Harris.

FALCATE; FALCATED Fal"cate, Fal"ca*ted, a. Etym: [L. falcatus, fr. falx, falcis, a sickle or scythe.]

Defn: Hooked or bent like a sickle; as, a falcate leaf; a falcate claw; — said also of the moon, or a planet, when horned or crescent- formed.

FALCATION Fal*ca"tion, n.

Defn: The state of being falcate; a bend in the form of a sickle. Sir T. Browne.

FALCER Fal"cer, n. Etym: [From L. falx, falcis, a sickle.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the mandibles of a spider.

FALCHION Fal"chion, n. Etym: [OE. fauchon, OF. fauchon, LL. fälcio, fr. L. falx, falcis, a sickle, cf. Gr. falcon; cf. It. falcione. Cf. Defalcation.]

1. A broad-bladed sword, slightly curved, shorter and lighter than the ordinary sword; — used in the Middle Ages.

2. A name given generally and poetically to a sword, especially to the swords of Oriental and fabled warriors.

FALCIDIAN Fal*cid"i*an, a. Etym: [L. Falcidius.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to Publius Falcidius, a Roman tribune. Falcidian law (Civil Law), a law by which a testator was obliged to leave at least a fourth of his estate to the heir. Burrill.

FALCIFORM Fal"ci*form, a. Etym: [L. falx, falcis, a sickle + -form: cf. F. falciforme.]

Defn: Having the shape of a scithe or sickle; resembling a reaping hook; as, the falciform ligatment of the liver.

FALCON Fal"con, n. Etym: [OE. faucon, faucoun, OF. faucon, falcon, faucon, fr. LL. falco, perh. from L. falx, falcis, a sickle or scythe, and named from its curving talons. Cf. Falchion.]

1. (Zoöl.) (a) One of a family (Falconidæ) of raptorial birds, characterized by a short, hooked beak, strong claws, and powerful flight. (b) Any species of the genus Falco, distinguished by having a toothlike lobe on the upper mandible; especially, one of this genus trained to the pursuit of other birds, or game. In the language of falconry, the female peregrine (Falco peregrinus) is exclusively called the falcon. Yarrell.

2. (Gun.)

Defn: An ancient form of cannon. Chanting falcon. (Zoöl.) See under Chanting.

FALCONER Fal"con*er, n. Etym: [OE. fauconer, OF. falconier, fauconier, F. fauconnier. See Falcon.]

Defn: A person who breeds or trains hawks for taking birds or game; one who follows the sport of fowling with hawks. Johnson.

FALCONET Fal"co*net, n. Etym: [Dim. of falcon: cf. F. fauconneau, LL. falconeta, properly, a young falcon.]

1. One of the smaller cannon used in the 15th century and later.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) One of several very small Asiatic falcons of the genus Microhierax. (b) One of a group of Australian birds of the genus Falcunculus, resembling shrikes and titmice.

FALCONGENTIL Fal"con*gen`til, n. Etym: [F. faucon-gentil. See Falcon, and Genteel.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The female or young of the goshawk (Astur palumbarius).

FALCONINE Fal"co*nine, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Like a falcon or hawk; belonging to the Falconidæ

FALCONRY Fal"con*ry, n. Etym: [Cf. F. fauconnerie. See Falcon.]

1. The art of training falcons or hawks to pursue and attack wild fowl or game.

2. The sport of taking wild fowl or game by means of falcons or hawks.

FALCULA Fal"cu*la, n. Etym: [L., a small sickle, a billhook.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A curved and sharp-pointed claw.

FALCULATE Fal"cu*late, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Curved and sharppointed, like a falcula, or claw of a falcon.

FALDAGE Fald"age, n. Etym: [LL. faldagium, fr. AS. fald, E. fold. Cf. Foldage.] (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: A privilege of setting up, and moving about, folds for sheep, in any fields within manors, in order to manure them; — often reserved to himself by the lord of the manor. Spelman.

FALDFEE Fald"fee`, n. Etym: [AS. fald (E.fold) + E. fee. See Faldage.] (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: A fee or rent paid by a tenant for the privilege of faldage on his own ground. Blount.

FALDING Fald"ing, n.

Defn: A frieze or rough-napped cloth. [Obs.]

FALDISTORY Fal"dis*to*ry, n. Etym: [LL. faldistorium, faldestorium, from OHG. faldstuol; faldan, faltan, to fold (G. falten) + stuol stool. So called because it could be folded or laid together. See Fold, and Stool, and cf. Faldstool, Fauteuil.]

Defn: The throne or seat of a bishop within the chancel. [Obs.]

FALDSTOOL Fald"stool`, n. Etym: [See Faldistory.]

Defn: A folding stool, or portable seat, made to fold up in the manner of a camo stool. It was formerly placed in the choir for a bishop, when he offciated in any but his own cathedral church. Fairholt.

Note: In the modern practice of the Church of England, the term faldstool is given to the reading desk from which the litany is read. This esage is a relic of the ancient use of a lectern folding like a camp stool.

FALERNIAN Fa*ler"ni*an, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Mount Falernus, in Italy; as, Falernianwine.

FALK Falk (falk), n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The razorbill. [Written also falc, and faik.] [Prov. Eng.]

FALL Fall (fall), v. i. [imp. Fell; p. p. Fallen; p. pr. & vb. n. Falling.] Etym: [AS. feallan; akin to D. vallen, OS. & OHG. fallan, G. fallen, Icel. Falla, Sw. falla, Dan. falde, Lith. pulti, L. fallere to deceive, Gr. sfa`llein to cause to fall, Skr. sphal, sphul, to tremble. Cf. Fail, Fell, v. t., to cause to fall.]

1. To Descend, either suddenly or gradually; particularly, to descend by the force of gravity; to drop; to sink; as, the apple falls; the tide falls; the mercury falls in the barometer. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Luke x. 18.

2. To cease to be erect; to take suddenly a recumbent posture; to become prostrate; to drop; as, a child totters and falls; a tree falls; a worshiper falls on his knees. I fell at his feet to worship him. Rev. xix. 10.

3. To find a final outlet; to discharge its waters; to empty; — with into; as, the river Rhone falls into the Mediterranean.

4. To become prostrate and dead; to die; especially, to die by violence, as in battle. A thousand shall fall at thy side. Ps. xci. 7. He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell. Byron.

5. To cease to be active or strong; to die away; to lose strength; to subside; to become less intense; as, the wind falls.

6. To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; — said of the young of certain animals. Shak.

7. To decline in power, glory, wealth, or importance; to become insignificant; to lose rank or position; to decline in weight, value, price etc.; to become less; as, the falls; stocks fell two points. I am a poor falle man, unworthy now To be thy lord and master. Shak. The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished. Sir J. Davies.

8. To be overthrown or captured; to be destroyed. Heaven and earth will witness, If Rome must fall, that we are innocent. Addison.

9. To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin; to depart from the faith; to apostatize; to sin. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Heb. iv. 11.

10. To become insnared or embarrassed; to be entrapped; to be worse off than before; asm to fall into error; to fall into difficulties.

11. To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; — said of the countenance. Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Gen. iv. 5. I have observed of late thy looks are fallen. Addison.

12. To sink; to languish; to become feeble or faint; as, our spirits rise and fall with our fortunes.

13. To pass somewha suddenly, and passively, into a new state of body or mind; to become; as, to fall asleep; to fall into a passion; to fall in love; to fall into temptation.

14. To happen; to to come to pass; to light; to befall; to issue; to terminate. The Romans fell on this model by chance. Swift. Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall. Ruth. iii. 18. They do not make laws, they fall into customs. H. Spencer.

15. To come; to occur; to arrive. The vernal equinox, which at the Nicene Council fell on the 21st of March, falls now [1694] about ten days sooner. Holder.

16. To begin with haste, ardor, or vehemence; to rush or hurry; as, they fell to blows. They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul. Jowett (Thucyd. ).

17. To pass or be transferred by chance, lot, distribution, inheritance, or otherwise; as, the estate fell to his brother; the kingdom fell into the hands of his rivals.

18. To belong or appertain. If to her share some female errors fall, Look on her face, and you'll forget them all. Pope.

19. To be dropped or uttered carelessly; as, an unguarded expression fell from his lips; not a murmur fell from him. To fall abroad of (Naut.), to strike against; — applied to one vessel coming into collision with another. — To fall among, to come among accidentally or unexpectedly. — To fall astern (Naut.), to move or be driven backward; to be left behind; as, a ship falls astern by the force of a current, or when outsailed by another. — To fall away. (a) To lose flesh; to become lean or emaciated; to pine. (b) To renounce or desert allegiance; to revolt or rebel. (c) To renounce or desert the faith; to apostatize. "These . . . for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." Luke viii. 13. (d) To perish; to vanish; to be lost. "How . . . can the soul . . . fall away into nothing" Addison. (e) To decline gradually; to fade; to languish, or become faint. "One color falls away by just degrees, and another rises insensibly." Addison. — To fall back. (a) To recede or retreat; to give way. (b) To fail of performing a promise or purpose; not to fulfill. — To fall back upon. (a) (Mil.) To retreat for safety to (a stronger position in the rear, as to a fort or a supporting body of troops). (b) To have recourse to (a reserved fund, or some available expedient or support). — To fall calm, to cease to blow; to become calm. — To fall down. (a) To prostrate one's self in worship. "All kings shall fall down before him." Ps. lxxii. 11. (b) To sink; to come to the ground. "Down fell the beauteous youth." Dryden. (c) To bend or bow, as a suppliant. (d) (Naut.) To sail or drift toward the mouth of a river or other outlet. — To fall flat, to produce no response or result; to fail of the intended effect; as, his speech fell flat. — To fall foul of. (a) (Naut.) To have a collision with; to become entangled with (b) To attack; to make an assault upon. — To fall from, to recede or depart from; not to adhere to; as, to fall from an agreement or engagement; to fall from allegiance or duty. — To fall from grace (M. E. Ch.), to sin; to withdraw from the faith. — To fall home (Ship Carp.), to curve inward; — said of the timbers or upper parts of a ship's side which are much within a perpendicular. — To fall in. (a) To sink inwards; as, the roof fell in. (b) (Mil.) To take one's proper or assigned place in line; as, to fall in on the right. (c) To come to an end; to terminate; to lapse; as, on the death of Mr. B., the annuuity, which he had so long received, fell in. (d) To become operative. "The reversion, to which he had been nominated twenty years before, fell in." Macaulay. — To fall into one's hands, to pass, often suddenly or unexpectedly, into one's ownership or control; as, to spike cannon when they are likely to fall into the hands of the enemy. — To fall in with. (a) To meet with accidentally; as, to fall in with a friend. (b) (Naut.) To meet, as a ship; also, to discover or come near, as land. (c) To concur with; to agree with; as, the measure falls in with popular opinion. (d) To comply; to yield to. "You will find it difficult to persuade learned men to fall in with your projects." Addison. — To fall off. (a) To drop; as, fruits fall off when ripe. (b) To withdraw; to separate; to become detached; as, friends fall off in adversity. "Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide." Shak. (c) To perish; to die away; as, words fall off by disuse. (d) To apostatize; to forsake; to withdraw from the faith, or from allegiance or duty. Those captive tribes . . . fell off From God to worship calves. Milton. (e) To forsake; to abandon; as, his customers fell off. (f) To depreciate; to change for the worse; to deteriorate; to become less valuable, abundant, or interesting; as, a falling off in the wheat crop; the magazine or the review falls off. "O Hamlet, what a falling off was there!" Shak. (g) (Naut.) To deviate or trend to the leeward of the point to which the head of the ship was before directed; to fall to leeward. — To fall on. (a) To meet with; to light upon; as, we have fallen on evil days. (b) To begin suddenly and eagerly. "Fall on, and try the appetite to eat." Dryden. (c) To begin an attack; to assault; to assail. "Fall on, fall on, and hear him not." Dryden. (d) To drop on; to descend on. — To fall out. (a) To quarrel; to begin to contend. A soul exasperated in ills falls out With everything, its friend, itself. Addison. (b) To happen; to befall; to chance. "There fell out a bloody quarrel betwixt the frogs and the mice." L'Estrange. (c) (Mil.) To leave the ranks, as a soldier. — To fall over. (a) To revolt; to desert from one side to another. (b) To fall beyond. Shak. — To fall short, to be deficient; as, the corn falls short; they all fall short in duty. — To fall through, to come to nothing; to fail; as, the engageent has fallen through. — To fall to, to begin. "Fall to, with eager joy, on homely food." Dryden. — To fall under. (a) To come under, or within the limits of; to be subjected to; as, they fell under the jurisdiction of the emperor. (b) To come under; to become the subject of; as, this point did not fall under the cognizance or deliberations of the court; these things do not fall under human sight or observation. (c) To come within; to be ranged or reckoned with; to be subordinate to in the way of classification; as, these substances fall under a different class or order. — To fall upon. (a) To attack. [See To fall on.] (b) To attempt; to have recourse to. "I do not intend to fall upon nice disquisitions." Holder. (c) To rush against.

Note: Fall primarily denotes descending motion, either in a perpendicular or inclined direction, and, in most of its applications, implies, literally or figuratively, velocity, haste, suddenness, or violence. Its use is so various, and so mush diversified by modifying words, that it is not easy to enumerate its senses in all its applications.

FALL Fall, v. t.

1. To let fall; to drop. [Obs.] For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds. Shak.

2. To sink; to depress; as, to fall the voice. [Obs.]

3. To diminish; to lessen or lower. [Obs.] Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities. Locke.

4. To bring forth; as, to fall lambs. [R.] Shak.

5. To fell; to cut down; as, to fall a tree. [Prov. Eng. & Local, U.S.]

FALL Fall, n.

1. The act of falling; a dropping or descending be the force of gravity; descent; as, a fall from a horse, or from the yard of ship.

2. The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture; as, he was walking on ice, and had a fall.

3. Death; destruction; overthrow; ruin. They thy fall conspire. Denham. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Prov. xvi. 18.

4. Downfall; degradation; loss of greatness or office; termination of greatness, power, or dominion; ruin; overthrow; as, the fall of the Roman empire. Beholds thee glorious only in thy fall. Pope.

5. The surrender of a besieged fortress or town ; as, the fall of Sebastopol.

6. Diminution or decrease in price or value; depreciation; as, the fall of prices; the fall of rents.

7. A sinking of tone; cadence; as, the fall of the voice at the close of a sentence.

8. Declivity; the descent of land or a hill; a slope.

9. Descent of water; a cascade; a cataract; a rush of water down a precipice or steep; — usually in the plural, sometimes in the singular; as, the falls of Niagara.

10. The discharge of a river or current of water into the ocean, or into a lake or pond; as, the fall of the Po into the Gulf of Venice. Addison.

11. Extent of descent; the distance which anything falls; as, the water of a stream has a fall of five feet.

12. The season when leaves fall from trees; autumn. What crowds of patients the town doctor kills, Or how, last fall, he raised the weekly bills. Dryden.

13. That which falls; a falling; as, a fall of rain; a heavy fall of snow.

14. The act of felling or cutting down. "The fall of timber." Johnson.

15. Lapse or declinsion from innocence or goodness. Specifically: The first apostasy; the act of our first parents in eating the forbidden fruit; also, the apostasy of the rebellious angels.

16. Formerly, a kind of ruff or band for the neck; a falling band; a faule. B. Jonson.

17. That part (as one of the ropes) of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting. Fall herring (Zoöl.), a herring of the Atlantic (Clupea mediocris); — also called tailor herring, and hickory shad. — To try a fall, to try a bout at wrestling. Shak.

FALLACIOUS Fal*la"cious, a. Etym: [L. fallaciosus, fr. fallacia: cf. F. fallacieux. See Fallacy.]

Defn: Embodying or pertaining to a fallacy; illogical; fitted to deceive; misleading; delusive; as, fallacious arguments or reasoning. — Fal*la"cious*ly, adv. -Fal*la"cious*ness, n.

FALLACY Fal"la*cy, n.; pl. Fallacies. Etym: [OE. fallace, fallas, deception, F. fallace, fr. L. fallacia, fr. fallax deceitful, deceptive, fr. fallere to deceive. See Fail.]

1. Deceptive or false appearance; deceitfulness; that which misleads the eye or the mind; deception. Winning by conquest what the first man lost, By fallacy surprised. Milton.

2. (Logic)

Defn: An argument, or apparent argument, which professes to be decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it is not; a sophism.

Syn. — Deception; deceit; mistake. — Fallacy, Sophistry. A fallacy is an argument which professes to be decisive, but in reality is not; sophistry is also false reasoning, but of so specious and subtle a kind as to render it difficult to expose its fallacy. Many fallacies are obvious, but the evil of sophistry lies in its consummate art. "Men are apt to suffer their minds to be misled by fallacies which gratify their passions. Many persons have obscured and confounded the nature of things by their wretched sophistry; though an act be never so sinful, they will strip it of its guilt." South.

FALLALS; FAL-LALS Fal"*lals`, n.pl.

Defn: Gay ornaments; frippery; gewgaws. [Colloq.] Thackeray.

FALLAX Fal"lax, n. Etym: [L. fallax deceptive. See Fallacy.]

Defn: Cavillation; a caviling. [Obs.] Cranmer.

FALLEN Fall"en, a.

Defn: Dropped; prostrate; degraded; ruined; decreased; dead. Some ruined temple or fallen monument. Rogers.

FALLENCY Fal"len*cy, n. Etym: [LL. fallentia, L. fallens p.pr of fallere.]

Defn: An exception. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.

FALLER Fall"er, n.

1. One who, or that which, falls.

2. (Mach.)

Defn: A part which acts by falling, as a stamp in a fulling mill, or the device in a spinning machine to arrest motion when a thread breaks.

FALLFISH Fall"fish`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A fresh-water fish of the United States (Semotilus bullaris); - - called also silver chub, and Shiner. The name is also applied to other allied species.

FALLIBILITY Fal`li*bil"i*ty, n.

Defn: The state of being fallible; liability to deceive or to be deceived; as, the fallibity of an argument or of an adviser.

FALLIBLE Fal"li*ble, a. Etym: [LL. fallibilis, fr. L. fallere to deceive: cf. F. faillible. See Fail.]

Defn: Liable to fail, mistake, or err; liable to deceive or to be deceived; as, all men are fallible; our opinions and hopes are fallible.

FALLIBLY Fal"li*bly, adv.

Defn: In a fallible manner.

FALLING Fall"ing, a. & n.

Defn: from Fall, v. i. Falling away, Falling off, etc. See To fall away, To fall off, etc., under Fall, v. i. — Falling band, the plain, broad, linen collar turning down over the doublet, worn in the early part of the 17th century. — Falling sickness (Med.), epilepsy. Shak. — Falling star. (Astron.) See Shooting star. — Falling stone, a stone falling through the atmosphere; a meteorite; an aërolite. — Falling tide, the ebb tide. — Falling weather, a rainy season. [Colloq.] Bartlett.

FALLOPIAN Fal*lo"pi*an, a. Etym: [From Fallopius, or Fallopio, a physician of Modena, who died in 1562.] (Anat.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or discovered by, Fallopius; as, the Fallopian tubes or oviducts, the ducts or canals which conduct the ova from the ovaries to the uterus.

FALLOW Fal"low, a. Etym: [AS. fealu, fealo, pale yellow or red; akin to D. vaal fallow, faded, OHG. falo, G. falb, fahl, Icel. fölr, and prob. to Lith. palvas, OSlav. plavpallidus pale, pallere to be pale, Gr. palita. Cf. Pale, Favel, a., Favor.]

1. Pale red or pale yellow; as, a fallow deer or greyhound. Shak.

2. Etym: [Cf. Fallow, n.]

Defn: Left untilled or unsowed after plowing; uncultivated; as, fallow ground. Fallow chat, Fallow finch (Zoöl.), a small European bird, the wheatear (Saxicola ænanthe). See Wheatear.

FALLOW Fal"low, n. Etym: [So called from the fallow, or somewhat yellow, color of naked ground; or perh. akin to E. felly, n., cf. MHG. valgen to plow up, OHG. felga felly, harrow.]

1. Plowed land. [Obs.] Who . . . pricketh his blind horse over the fallows. Chaucer.

2. Land that has lain a year or more untilled or unseeded; land plowed without being sowed for the season. The plowing of fallows is a benefit to land. Mortimer.

3. The plowing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season; as, summer fallow, properly conducted, has ever been found a sure method of destroying weeds. Be a complete summer fallow, land is rendered tender and mellow. The fallow gives it a better tilth than can be given by a fallow crop. Sinclair. Fallow crop, the crop taken from a green fallow. [Eng.] — Green fallow, fallow whereby land is rendered mellow and clean from weeds, by cultivating some green crop, as turnips, potatoes, etc. [Eng.]

FALLOW Fal"low, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fallowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Fallowing.] Etym: [From Fallow, n.]

Defn: To plow, harrow, and break up, as land, without seeding, for the purpose of destroying weeds and insects, and rendering it mellow; as, it is profitable to fallow cold, strong, clayey land.

FALLOW DEER Fal"low deer`. Etym: [So called from its fallow or pale yellow color.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A European species of deer (Cervus dama), much smaller than the red deer. In summer both sexes are spotted with white. It is common in England, where it is often domesticated in the parks.

FALLOWIST Fal"low*ist, n.

Defn: One who favors the practice of fallowing land. [R.] Sinclair.

FALLOWNESS Fal"low*ness, n.

Defn: A well or opening, through the successive floors of a warehouse or manufactory, through which goods are raised or lowered. [U.S.] Bartlett.

FALSARY Fal"sa*ry, n. Etym: [L. falsarius, fr. falsus. See False, a.]

Defn: A falsifier of evidence. [Obs.] Sheldon.

FALSE False, a. [Compar. Falser; superl. Falsest.] Etym: [L. falsus, p.p. of fallere to deceive; cf. OF. faus, fals, F. faux, and AS. fals fraud. See Fail, Fall.]

1. Uttering falsehood; unveracious; given to deceit; dishnest; as, a false witness.

2. Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous; perfidious; as, a false friend, lover, or subject; false to promises. I to myself was false, ere thou to me. Milton.

3. Not according with truth or reality; not true; fitted or likely to deceive or disappoint; as, a false statement.

4. Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive; counterfeit; hypocritical; as, false tears; false modesty; false colors; false jewelry. False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Shak.

5. Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous; as, a false claim; a false conclusion; a false construction in grammar. Whose false foundation waves have swept away. Spenser.

6. Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.

7. (Mus.)

Defn: Not in tune. False arch (Arch.), a member having the appearance of an arch, though not of arch construction. — False attic, an architectural erection above the main cornice, concealing a roof, but not having windows or inclosing rooms. — False bearing, any bearing which is not directly upon a vertical support; thus, the weight carried by a corbel has a false bearing. — False cadence, an imperfect or interrupted cadence. — False conception (Med.), an abnormal conception in which a mole, or misshapen fleshy mass, is produced instead of a properly organized fetus. — False croup (Med.), a spasmodic affection of the larynx attended with the symptoms of membranous croup, but unassociated with the deposit of a fibrinous membrane. — False door or window (Arch.), the representation of a door or window, inserted to complete a series of doors or windows or to give symmetry. — False fire, a combustible carried by vessels of war, chiefly for signaling, but sometimes burned for the purpose of deceiving an enemy; also, a light on shore for decoying a vessel to destruction. — False galena. See Blende. — False imprisonment (Law), the arrest and imprisonment of a person without warrant or cause, or contrary to law; or the unlawful detaining of a person in custody. — False keel (Naut.), the timber below the main keel, used to serve both as a protection and to increase the shio's lateral resistance. — False key, a picklock. — False leg. (Zoöl.) See Proleg. — False membrane (Med.), the fibrinous deposit formed in croup and diphtheria, and resembling in appearance an animal membrane. — False papers (Naut.), documents carried by a ship giving false representations respecting her cargo, destination, ect., for the purpose of deceiving. — False passage (Surg.), an unnatural passage leading off from a natural canal, such as the urethra, and produced usually by the unskillful introduction of instruments. — False personation (Law), the intentional false assumption of the name and personality of another. — False pretenses (Law), false representations concerning past or present facts and events, for the purpose of defrauding another. — False rail (Naut.), a thin piece of timber placed on top of the head rail to strengthen it. — False relation (Mus.), a progression in harmony, in which a certain note in a chord appears in the next chord prefixed by a flat or sharp. — False return (Law), an untrue return made to a process by the officer to whom it was delivered for execution. — False ribs (Anat.), the asternal rebs, of which there are five pairs in man. — False roof (Arch.), the space between the upper ceiling and the roof. Oxford Gloss. — False token, a false mark or other symbol, used for fraudulent purposes. — False scorpion (Zoöl.), any arachnid of the genus Chelifer. See Book scorpion. — False tack (Naut.), a coming up into the wind and filling away again on the same tack. — False vampire (Zoöl.), the Vampyrus spectrum of South America, formerly erroneously supposed to have blood-sucking habits; — called also vampire, and ghost vampire. The genuine blood-sucking bats belong to the genera Desmodus and Diphylla. See Vampire. — False window. (Arch.) See False door, above. — False wing. (Zoöl.) See Alula, and Bastard wing, under Bastard. — False works (Civil Engin.), construction works to facilitate the erection of the main work, as scaffolding, bridge centering, etc.

FALSE False, adv.

Defn: Not truly; not honestly; falsely. "You play me false." Shak.

FALSE False, v. t. Etym: [L. falsare to falsify, fr. falsus: cf. F. fausser. See False, a.]

1. To report falsely; to falsify. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. To betray; to falsify. [Obs.] [He] hath his truthe falsed in this wise. Chaucer.

3. To mislead by want of truth; to deceive. [Obs.] In his falsed fancy. Spenser.

4. To feign; to pretend to make. [Obs.] "And falsed oft his blows." Spenser.

FALSE-FACED False"-faced`, a.

Defn: Hypocritical. Shak.

FALSE-HEART False"-heart`, a.

Defn: False-hearted. Shak.

FALSE-HEARTED False"-heart`ed, a.

Defn: Hollow or unsound at the core; treacherous; deceitful; perfidious. Bacon. — False"*heart`ed*ness, n. Bp. Stillingfleet.

FALSEHOOD False"hood, n. Etym: [False + -hood]

1. Want of truth or accuracy; an untrue assertion or representation; error; misrepresentation; falsity. Though it be a lie in the clock, it is but a falsehood in the hand of the dial when pointing at a wrong hour, if rightly following the direction of the wheel which moveth it. Fuller.