Chapter 583

With that a joyous fellowship issued Of minstrels. Spenser.

5. (Eng. & Amer. Universities) A foundation for the maintenance, on certain conditions, of a scholar called a fellow, who usually resides at the university. <-- why "foundation"? stipend is more accurate now. This use is sense 4 of this dictionary, an "endowment" -->

6. (Arith.) The rule for dividing profit and loss among partners; -- called also partnership, company, and distributive proportion.

Good fellowship <Xpage=551>

Good fellowship , companionableness; the spirit and disposition befitting comrades.

There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee. Shak.

Fellowship <Xpage=551>

Fel"low*ship (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fellowshiped (<?/) ; p. pr. & vb. n. . Fellowshiping .] (Eccl.) To acknowledge as of good standing, or in communion according to standards of faith and practice; to admit to Christian fellowship.

Felly <Xpage=551>

Fel"ly (?) , adv. In a fell or cruel manner; fiercely; barbarously; savagely.

Spenser.

Felly <Xpage=551>

Fel"ly , n. ; pl. Fellies (<?/) . [OE. feli , felwe , felow , AS. felg , felge ; akin to D. velg , G. felge , OHG. felga felly (also, a harrow, but prob. a different word), Dan. felge .] The exterior wooden rim, or a segment of the rim, of a wheel, supported by the spokes. [Written also felloe .]

Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel. Shak.

Felo-de-se <Xpage=551>

Fe"lo-de-se` (?) , n. ; pl. Felos-de-se (#) . [LL. felo , E. felon + de of, concerning + se self.] (Law) One who deliberately puts an end to his own existence, or loses his life while engaged in the commission of an unlawful or malicious act; a suicide.

Burrill.

Felon <Xpage=551>

Fel"on (?) , n. [OE., adj., cruel, n. , villain, ruffian, traitor, whitlow, F. f\'82lon traitor, in OF. also, villain, fr. LL. felo . See Fell, a. ] 1. (Law) A person who has committed a felony.

2. A person guilty or capable of heinous crime.

3. (Med.) A kind of whitlow; a painful imflammation of the periosteum of a finger, usually of the last joint.

Syn. -- Criminal; convict; malefactor; culprit.

Felon <Xpage=551>

Fel"on , a. Characteristic of a felon; malignant; fierce; malicious; cruel; traitorous; disloyal.

Vain shows of love to vail his felon hate. Pope.

Feloni-ous <Xpage=551>

Fe*lo"ni-ous (?) , a. Having the quality of felony; malignant; malicious; villainous; traitorous; perfidious; in a legal sense, done with intent to commit a crime; as, felonious homicide .

O thievish Night, Why should'st thou, but for some felonious end, In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars? Milton.

-- Fe*lo"ni-ous-ly , adv. -- Fe*lo"ni-ous*ness , n.

Felonous <Xpage=551>

Fel"o*nous (?) , a. [Cf. OF. feloneus . Cf. Felonious .] Wicked; felonious. [Obs.]

Spenser.

Felonry <Xpage=551>

Fel"on*ry (?) , n. A body of felons; specifically, the convict population of a penal colony.

Howitt.

Felonwort <Xpage=551>

Fel"on*wort` (?) , n. (Bot.) The bittersweet nightshade ( Solanum Dulcamara ). See Bittersweet .

Felony <Xpage=551>

Fel"o*ny (?) , n. ; pl. Felonies (#) . [OE. felonie cruelty, OF. felonie , F. f\'82lonie treachery, malice. See Felon , n. ] 1. (Feudal Law) An act on the part of the vassal which cost him his fee by forfeiture.

Burrill.

2. (O.Eng.Law) An offense which occasions a total forfeiture either lands or goods, or both, at the common law, and to which capital or other punishment may be added, according to the degree of guilt.

3. A heinous crime; especially, a crime punishable by death or imprisonment.

&hand; Forfeiture for crime having been generally abolished in the United States, the term felony , in American law, has lost this point of distinction; and its meaning, where not fixed by statute, is somewhat vague and undefined; generally, however, it is used to denote an offense of a high grade, punishable either capitally or by a term of imprisonment. In Massachusetts, by statute, any crime punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison, and no other, is a felony ; so in New York. the tendency now is to obliterate the distinction between felonies and misdemeanors; and this has been done partially in England, and completely in some of the States of the Union. The distinction is purely arbitrary, and its entire abolition is only a question of time.

&hand; There is no lawyer who would undertake to tell what a felony is, otherwise than by enumerating the various kinds of offenses which are so called. originally, the word felony had a meaning: it denoted all offenses the penalty of which included forfeiture of goods; but subsequent acts of Parliament have declared various offenses to be felonies, without enjoining that penalty, and have taken away the penalty from others, which continue, nevertheless, to be called felonies , insomuch that the acts so called have now no property whatever in common, save that of being unlawful and purnishable.

J. S. Mill.

To compound a felony <Xpage=551>

To compound a felony . See under Compound , v. t.

Felsite <Xpage=551>

Fel"site (?) , n. [Cf. Feldspar .] (Min.) A finegrained rock, flintlike in fracture, consisting essentially of orthoclase feldspar with occasional grains of quartz.

Felsitic <Xpage=551>

Fel*sit"ic (?) , a. relating to, composed of, or containing, felsite.

Felspar, Felspath <Xpage=551>

Fel"spar` (?) , Fel"spath` (?) , n. (Min.) See Feldspar .

Felspathic <Xpage=551>

Fel*spath"ic (?) , a. See Feldspathic .

Felstone <Xpage=551>

Fel"stone` (?) , n. [From G. feldstein , in analogy with E. fel spar.] (Min.) See Felsite .

Felt <Xpage=551>

Felt (?) , imp. & p. p. &or; a. from Feel .

Felt <Xpage=551>

Felt (?) , n. [AS. felt ; akin to D. vilt , G. filz , and possibly to Gr. <?/ hair or wool wrought into felt, L. pilus hair, pileus a felt cap or hat.] 1. A cloth or stuff made of matted fibers of wool, or wool and fur, fulled or wrought into a compact substance by rolling and pressure, with lees or size, without spinning or weaving.

It were a delicate stratagem to shoe A troop of horse with felt. Shak .

2. A hat made of felt.

Thynne.

3. A skin or hide; a fell; a pelt. [Obs.]

To know whether sheep are sound or not, see that the felt be loose. Mortimer.

Felt grain <Xpage=551>

Felt grain , the grain of timber which is transverse to the annular rings or plates; the direction of the medullary rays in oak and some other timber.

Knight.

Felt <Xpage=551>

Felt , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Felted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Felting .] 1. To make into felt, or a feltike substance; to cause to adhere and mat together.

Sir M. Hale.

2. To cover with, or as with, felt; as, to felt the cylinder of a steam emgine .

Felter <Xpage=551>

Felt"er (?) , v. t. To clot or mat together like felt.

His feltered locks that on his bosom fell. Fairfax.

Felting <Xpage=551>

Felt"ing , n. 1. The material of which felt is made; also, felted cloth; also, the process by which it is made.

2. The act of splitting timber by the felt grain.

Feltry <Xpage=551>

Fel"try (?) , n. [OF. feltre .] See Felt , n. [Obs.]

Felucca <Xpage=551>

Fe*luc"ca (<?/) , n. [It. feluca (cf. Sp. faluca , Pg. falua ), fr. Ar. fulk ship, or harr\'beqah a sort of ship.] (Naut.) A small, swift-sailing vessel, propelled by oars and lateen sails, -- once common in the Mediterranean . Sometimes it is constructed so that the helm may be used at either end.

Felwort <Xpage=551>

Fel"wort` (?) , n. [Probably a corruption of fieldwort .] (Bot.) A European herb ( Swertia perennis ) of the Gentian family.

Female <Xpage=551>

Fe"male (?) , n. [OE. femel , femal , F. femelle , fr. L. femella , dim. of femina woman. See Feminine .] 1. An individual of the sex which conceives and brings forth young, or (in a wider sense) which has an ovary and produces ova.

The male and female of each living thing. Drayton.

2. (Bot.) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organs which are capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.

Female <Xpage=551>

Fe"male , a. 1. Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male.

As patient as the female dove When that her golden couplets are disclosed. Shak.

2. Belonging to an individual of the female sex; characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness . " Female usurpation.'b8

Milton.

To the generous decision of a female mind, we owe the discovery of America. Belknap.

3. (Bot.) Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization.

Female rhymes <Xpage=551>

Female rhymes (Pros.) , double rhymes, or rhymes (called in French feminine rhymes because they end in e weak, or feminine ) in which two syllables, an accented and an unaccented one, correspond at the end of each line.

&hand; A rhyme, in which the final syllables only agree ( strain , complain ) is called a male rhyme; one in which the two final syllables of each verse agree, the last being short ( motion , ocean ), is called female .

Brande & C.

-- Female screw , the spiral-threaded cavity into which another, or male, screw turns.

Nicholson.

Female fern <Xpage=551>

Female fern (Bot.) , a common species of fern with large decompound fronds ( Asplenium Filixf\'91mina ), growing in many countries; lady fern .

&hand; The names male fern and female fern were anciently given to two common ferns; but it is now understood that neither has any sexual character.

Syn. -- Female , Feminine . We apply female to the sex or individual, as opposed to male ; also, to the distinctive belongings of women; as, female dress, female form, female character, etc.; feminine , to things appropriate to, or affected by, women; as, feminine studies, employments, accomplishments, etc. " Female applies to sex rather than gender, and is a physiological rather than a grammatical term. Feminine applies to gender rather than sex, and is grammatical rather than physiological."

Latham.

Femal-ist <Xpage=551>

Fe"mal-ist (?) , n. A gallant. [Obs.]

Courting her smoothly like a femalist . Marston.

Femal-ize <Xpage=551>

Fe"mal-ize (?) , v. t. To make, or to describe as, female or feminine.

Shaftesbury.

Feme <Xpage=551>

Feme (? &or; ?) , n. [OF. feme , F. femme.] (Old Law) A woman.

Burrill.

Feme covert (Law) , a married woman. See Covert , a. , 3. -- Feme sole (Law) , a single or unmarried woman; a woman who has never been married, or who has been divorced, or whose husband is dead. -- Feme sole trader &or; merchant (Eng. Law) , a married woman, by the custom of London, engages in business on her own account, inpendently of her husband.

Femeral <Xpage=551>

Fem"er*al (?) , n. (Arch.) See Femerell .

Femer-ell <Xpage=551>

Fem"er-ell (?) , n. [OF. fumeraille part of a chimney. See Fume .] (Arch.) A lantern, or louver covering, placed on a roof, for ventilation or escape of smoke.

Femi-nal <Xpage=551>

Fem"i-nal (?) , a. Feminine. [Obs.]

West.

Feminality <Xpage=551>

Fem`i*nal"i*ty (?) , n. Feminity.

Femi-nate <Xpage=551>

Fem"i-nate (?) , a. [L. feminatus effeminate.] Feminine. [Obs.]

Femi-nei-ty <Xpage=551>

Fem`i-ne"i-ty (?) , n. [L. femineus womanly.] Womanliness; femininity.

C. Read<?/.

Feminine <Xpage=551>

Fem"i*nine (?) , a. [L. femininus , fr. femina woman; prob. akin to L. fetus , or to Gr. <?/ to suck, <?/ to suckle, Skr. dh\'be to suck; cf. AS. f\'d6mme woman, maid: cf. F. f\'82minin . See Fetus .] 1. Of or pertaining to a woman, or to women; characteristic of a woman; womanish; womanly.

Her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace. Macaulay.

2. Having the qualities of a woman; becoming or appropriate to the female sex; as, in a good sense, modest, graceful, affectionate, confiding; or, in a bad sense, weak, nerveless, timid, pleasure-loving, effeminate.

Her heavenly form Angelic, but more soft and feminine . Milton.

Ninus being esteemed no man of war at all, but altogether feminine , and subject to ease and delicacy. Sir W. Raleigh.

Feminine rhyme <Xpage=551>

Feminine rhyme . (Pros.) See Female rhyme , under Female , a.

Syn. -- See Female , a.

Feminine <Xpage=551>

Fem"i*nine , n. 1. A woman. [Obs. or Colloq.]

They guide the feminines toward the palace. Hakluyt.

2. (Gram.) Any one of those words which are the appellations of females, or which have the terminations usually found in such words; as, actress , songstress , abbess , executrix .

There are but few true feminines in English. Latham.

Femininely <Xpage=551>

Fem"i*nine*ly , adv. In a feminine manner.

Byron.

Feminineness <Xpage=551>

Fem"i*nine*ness , n. The quality of being feminine; womanliness; womanishness.

Femininity <Xpage=551>

Fem`i*nin"i*ty (?) , n. 1. The quality or nature of the female sex; womanliness.

2. The female form. [Obs.]

O serpent under femininitee . Chaucer.

Feminity <Xpage=551>

Fe*min"i*ty (?) , n. Womanliness; femininity. [Obs.] "Trained up in true feminity ."

Spenser.

Feminization <Xpage=551>

Fem`i*ni*za"tion (?) , n. The act of feminizing, or the state of being feminized.

Feminize <Xpage=551>

Fem"i*nize (?) , v. t. [Cf. F. f\'82miniser .] To make womanish or effeminate.

Dr. H. More.

Feminye <Xpage=551>

Fem"i*nye (?) , n. [OF. femenie , feminie , the female sex, realm of women.] The people called Amazons. [Obs.] "[The reign of] feminye ." Chaucer.

Femme <Xpage=551>

Femme (? &or; ?) , n. [F.] A woman. See Feme , n.

Femme de chambre (?) . [F.] A lady's maid; a chambermaid.

Femoral <Xpage=551>

Fem"o*ral (?) , a. [L. femur , femoris , thigh: cf. F. f\'82moral .] Pertaining to the femur or thigh; as, the femoral artery . " Femoral habiliments." Sir W. Scott.

Femur <Xpage=551>

Fe"mur (?) , n. ; pl. Femora (<?/) . [L. thigh.] (Anat.) (a) The thigh bone . (b) The proximal segment of the hind limb containing the thigh bone; the thigh. See Coxa .

Fen <Xpage=551>

Fen (?) , n. [AS. fen , fenn , marsh, mud, dirt; akin to D. veen , OFries. fenne , fene , OHG. fenna , G. fenn , Icel. fen , Goth. fani mud.] Low land overflowed, or covered wholly or partially with water, but producing sedge, coarse grasses, or other aquatic plants; boggy land; moor; marsh.

'Mid reedy fens wide spread. Wordsworth.

&hand; Fen is used adjectively with the sense of belonging to , or of the nature of , a fen or fens .

Fen boat , a boat of light draught used in marshes. -- Fen duck (Zo\'94l.) , a wild duck inhabiting fens; the shoveler. [Prov. Eng.] -- Fen fowl (Zo\'94l.) , any water fowl that frequent fens. -- Fen goose (Zo\'94l.) , the graylag goose of Europe. [Prov. Eng.] -- Fen land , swamp land.

Fence <Xpage=551>

Fence (?) , n. [Abbrev. from defence.] 1. That which fends off attack or danger; a defense; a protection; a cover; security; shield.

Let us be backed with God and with the seas, Which he hath given for fence impregnable. Shak.

A fence betwixt us and the victor's wrath. Addison.

2. An inclosure about a field or other space, or about any object; especially, an inclosing structure of wood, iron, or other material, intended to prevent intrusion from without or straying from within.

Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold. Milton.

&hand; In England a hedge, ditch, or wall, as well as a structure of boards, palings, or rails, is called a fence .

3. (Locks) A projection on the bolt, which passes through the tumbler gates in locking and unlocking.

4. Self-defense by the use of the sword; the art and practice of fencing and sword play; hence, skill in debate and repartee. See Fencing .

Enjoy your dear wit, and gay rhetoric, That hath so well been taught her dazzing fence . Milton.

Of dauntless courage and consummate skill in fence . Macaulay.

5. A receiver of stolen goods, or a place where they are received. [Slang]

Mayhew.

Fence month <Xpage=551>

Fence month (Forest Law) , the month in which female deer are fawning, when hunting is prohibited.

Bullokar.

-- Fence roof , a covering for defense. "They fitted their shields close to one another in manner of a fence roof."

Holland.

Fence time , the breeding time of fish or game, when they should not be killed. -- Rail fence , a fence made of rails, sometimes supported by posts. -- Ring fence , a fence which encircles a large area, or a whole estate, within one inclosure. -- Worm fence , a zigzag fence composed of rails crossing one another at their ends; -- called also snake fence , or Virginia rail fence . -- To be on the fence , to be undecided or uncommitted in respect to two opposing parties or policies. [Colloq.]

<page="552"> Page 552

Fence <Xpage=552>

Fence , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fenced (<?/); p. pr. & vb. n. Fencing (?) .] 1. To fend off danger from; to give security to; to protect; to guard.

To fence my ear against thy sorceries. Milton.

2. To inclose with a fence or other protection; to secure by an inclosure.