Chapter 1

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Version published 1913

by the C. & G. Merriam Co. Springfield, Mass. Under the direction of Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D.

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F.

F (f). 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 &?;, which probably had the value of English w consonant. The form and value of Greek letter came from the Phúnician, the ultimate source being probably Egyptian. Etymologically f is most closely related to p, k, v, and b; as in E. five, Gr. pe`nte; E. wolf, L. lupus, Gr. ly`kos; E. fox, vixen ; fragile, break; fruit, brook, v. t.; E. bear, L. ferre. See Guide to Pronunciation, ßß 178, 179, 188, 198, 230.

2. (Mus.) 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 (f‰), n. [It.] (Mus.) (a) A syllable applied to the fourth tone of the diatonic scale in solmization. (b) The tone F.

Fa*ba"ceous (f*b"shs), a. [L. fabaceus, fr. faba bean.] Having the nature of a bean; like a bean.

||Fa*bel"la (?), n.; pl. Fabellae (-l&?;). [NL., dim. of L. faba a ||bean.] (Anat.) One of the small sesamoid bones situated behind the ||condyles of the femur, in some mammals.

Fa"bi*an (?), a. [L. Fabianus, Fabius, belonging to Fabius.] 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.

Fa"ble (f"b'l), n. [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.

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

Fa"ble, v. t. To feign; to invent; to devise, and speak of, as true or real; to tell of falsely.

The hell thou fablest.

Milton.

Fa"bler (f"blr), n. A writer of fables; a fabulist; a dealer in untruths or falsehoods. Bp. Hall.

||Fa`bli`au" (?), n.; pl. Fabliaux (-"). [F., fr. OF. fablel, dim. of ||fable a fable.] (Fr. Lit.) One of the metrical tales of the ||TrouvËres, or early poets of the north of France.

Fab"ric (?), n. [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 fabric of 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.

Fab"ric, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fabricked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fabricking.] To frame; to build; to construct. [Obs.] "Fabric their mansions." J. Philips.

Fab"ri*cant (?), n. [F.] One who fabricates; a manufacturer. Simmonds.

Fab"ri*cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fabricated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fabricating (?).] [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.

Fab`ri*ca"tion (?), n. [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.

Fab"ri*ca`tor (?), n. [L.] One who fabricates; one who constructs or makes.

The fabricator of the works of Ossian.

Mason.

Fab"ri*ca`tress (?), n. A woman who fabricates.

Fab"rile (?), a. [L. fabrilis, fr. faber workman. See Forge.] Pertaining to a workman, or to work in stone, metal, wood etc.; as, fabrile skill.

Fab"u*list (?), n. [Cf. F. fabuliste, fr. L. fabula. See Fable.] One who invents or writes fables.

Fab"u*lize (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fabulized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fabulizing (?).] [Cf. F. fabuliser. See Fable.] To invent, compose, or relate fables or fictions. G. S. Faber.

Fab`u*los"i*ty (?), n. [L. fabulositas: cf. F. fabulositÈ.] 1. Fabulousness. [R.] Abp. Abbot.

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

Fab"u*lous (fb"*ls), a. [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 Greece and Rome.

-- Fab"u*lous*ly (#), adv. -- Fab"u*lous*ness, n.

Fab"ur*den (fb"r*den), n. [F. faux bourdon. 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 (fk), n. [Abbrev. of facsimile.] A large ornamental letter used, esp. by the early printers, at the commencement of the chapters and other divisions of a book. Brande & C.

||Fa`Áade" (f`sd" or f`sd"), n. [F., fr. It. facciata, fr. faccia face, ||L. facies. See Face.] (Arch.) The front of a building; esp., the ||principal front, having some architectural pretensions. Thus a church ||is said to have its faÁade unfinished, though the interior may be in ||use.

Face (?), n. [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.) 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 presence of.

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

13. (Com.) The exact amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, or other mercantile paper, without any addition for interest or reduction for discount. McElrath.

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 (Zoˆll.), 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 ‡ 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 (?), 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 battle.

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

Fa"cer (f"sr), 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.

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Fac"et (?), n. [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.) A smooth circumscribed surface; as, the articular facet of a bone.

3. (Arch.) The narrow plane surface between flutings of a column.

4. (Zoˆl.) One of the numerous small eyes which make up the compound eyes of insects and crustaceans.

Fac"et, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Faceted; p. pr. & vb. n. Faceting.] To cut facets or small faces upon; as, to facet a diamond.

Fa*cete" (?), a. [L. facetus elegant, fine, facetious; akin to facies. See Face, and cf. Facetious.] 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.

Fac"et*ed (?), a. Having facets.

||Fa*ce"ti*Ê (&?;), n. pl. [L., fr. facetus. See Facete.] Witty or ||humorous writings or saying; witticisms; merry conceits.

Fa*ce"tious (?), a. [Cf. F. facÈtieux. See FacetiÊ.] 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.

Fa*cette" (?), n. [F.] See Facet, n.

Face"work` (?), n. The material of the outside or front side, as of a wall or building; facing.

Fa"ci*a (?), n. (Arch.) See Fascia.

Fa"cial (?), a. [LL. facialis, fr. L. facies face : cf. F. facial.] 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.

Fa"ci*end (?), n. [From neut. of L. faciendus, gerundive of facere to do.] (Mach.) The multiplicand. See Facient, 2.

Fa"cient (?), n. [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.] Bp. Hacket.

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

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.

||Fa"ci*es (?), n. [L., from, face. See Face.]

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

2. (Biol.) The general aspect or habit of a species, or group of species, esp. with reference to its adaptation to its environment.

3. (Zoˆl.) The face of a bird, or the front of the head, excluding the bill.

Facies Hippocratica. (Med.) See Hippocratic.

Fac"ile (?) a. [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.

Fa*cil"i*tate (f*sl"*tt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Facilitated (-t`td); p. pr. & vb. n. Facilitating (-t`tng).] [Cf. F. faciliter. See Facility.] 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.

Fa*cil`i*ta"tion (?), n. The act of facilitating or making easy.

Fa*cil"i*ty (f*sl"*t), n.; pl. Facilities (- tz). [L. facilitas, fr. facilis easy: cf. F. facilitÈ. See Facile.] 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 banker, 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 to obey the known will of God is the surest means to enlighten the mind in respect to duty."

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.) 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) 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. 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.

Fa"cing*ly, adv. In a facing manner or position.

Fa*cin"o*rous (?), a. [L. facinorous, from facinus deed, bad deed, from facere to make, do.] Atrociously wicked. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.

-- Fa*cin"o*rous*ness, n. [Obs.]

Fac"ound (?), n. [F. faconde, L. facundia. See Facund.] Speech; eloquence. [Obs.]

Her facound eke full womanly and plain.

Chaucer.

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

Fac*sim"i*le, (&?;), v. t. To make a facsimile of.

Fact (fkt), n. [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.