Factum - Faint

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Factum (făktŭm), n.; pl. Facta (#). [L. See .] 1. (Law) 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.
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2. (Mach.) The product. See , 2.
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Facture (?), n. [F. facture a making, invoice, L. factura a making. See .] 1. The act or manner of making or doing anything; -- now used of a literary, musical, or pictorial production. Bacon.
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2. (Com.) An invoice or bill of parcels.
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Faculæ (?), n. pl. [L., pl. of facula a little torch.] (Astron.) 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.
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Facular (?) a. (Astron.) Of or pertaining to the faculæ. R. A. Proctor.
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Facultative (?), 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.
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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.) 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.
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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.
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Faculty (?), n.; pl. Faculties (#). [F. facult�, L. facultas, fr. facilis easy (cf. facul easily), fr. fecere to make. See , and cf. .] 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.
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But know that in the soul
Are many lesser faculties that serve
Reason as chief. Milton.
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What a piece of work is a man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in faculty ! Shak.
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2. Special mental endowment; characteristic knack.
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He had a ready faculty, indeed, of escaping from any topic that agitated his too sensitive and nervous temperament. Hawthorne.
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3. Power; prerogative or attribute of office. [R.]
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This Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek. Shak.
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4. Privilege or permission, granted by favor or indulgence, to do a particular thing; authority; license; dispensation.
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The pope . . . granted him a faculty to set him free from his promise. Fuller.
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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.
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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, etc.
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6. (Amer. Colleges) 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.
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Coloq. Dean of faculty . See under . -- Coloq. Faculty of advocates . (Scot.) See under .

Syn. -- Talent; gift; endowment; dexterity; expertness; cleverness; readiness; ability; knack.
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Facund (?), a. [L. facundus, fr. fari to speak.] Eloquent. [Archaic]
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Facundious (?), a. [L. facundiosus.] Eloquement; full of words. [Archaic]
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Facundity (?), n. [L. facunditas.] Eloquence; readiness of speech. [Archaic]
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Fad (făd), n. [Cf. .] 1. A hobby ; freak; whim.
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It is your favorite fad to draw plans. G. Eliot.
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2. a practise followed enthusiastically by a number of people for a limited period of time; as, the latest fad in fashion.
Syn. -- craze; mania.
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-- Faddist, n.
-- Faddish, a.
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Fadaise (?), n. [F.] A vapid or meaningless remark; a commonplace; nonsense.
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faddish faddy adj. 1. intensely fashionable for a short time. [wns=1]
Syn. -- trendy. [WordNet 1.5]

2. prone to follow fads; as, a faddish clique of teenagers; -- of people.
Syn. -- trendy. [PJC]

faddist n. a person who subscribes to a variety of fads.
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Faddle (?), v. i. [Cf. , .] To trifle; to toy. -- v. t. To fondle; to dandle. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
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Fade (?) a. [F., prob. fr. L. vapidus vapid, or possibly fr,fatuus foolish, insipid.] Weak; insipid; tasteless; commonplace. [R.] “Passages that are somewhat fade.” Jeffrey.
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His masculine taste gave him a sense of something fade and ludicrous. De Quincey.
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Fade (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Faded; p. pr. & vb. n. Fading.] [OE. faden, vaden, prob. fr. fade, a.; cf. Prov. D. vadden to fade, wither, vaddigh languid, torpid. Cf. , a., .] 1. To become fade; to grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish gradually; to wither, as a plant.
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The earth mourneth and fadeth away. Is. xxiv. 4.
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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.
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3. To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.
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The stars shall fade away. Addison
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He makes a swanlike end,
Fading in music. Shak.
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Fade, v. t. To cause to wither; to deprive of freshness or vigor; to wear away.
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No winter could his laurels fade. Dryden.
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Faded (?), a. That has lost freshness, color, or brightness; grown dim. “His faded cheek.” Milton.
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Where the faded moon
Made a dim silver twilight. Keats.
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Fadedly, adv. In a faded manner.
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A dull room fadedly furnished. Dickens.
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Fadeless, a. Not liable to fade; unfading.
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Fader (?), n. Father. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Fadge (?), v. i. [Cf. OE. faden to flatter, and AS. f�gan to join, unit, G. fügen, or AS. āfægian to depict; all perh. form the same root as E. fair. Cf. , a., to fit.] To fit; to suit; to agree.
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They shall be made, spite of antipathy, to fadge together. Milton.
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Well, Sir, how fadges the new design ? Wycherley.
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Fadge (?), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] A small flat loaf or thick cake; also, a fagot. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
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Fading (?), a. Losing freshness, color, brightness, or vigor. -- n. Loss of color, freshness, or vigor. -- Fadingly, adv. -- Fadingness, n.
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Fading, n. An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song. “Fading is a fine jig.” [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
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Fadme (?), n. A fathom. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Fady (?), a. Faded. [R.] Shenstone.
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Fæcal (?), a. See .
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Fæces (?), n. pl. [L. faex, pl. faeces, dregs.] Excrement; ordure; also, settlings; sediment after infusion or distillation. [Written also feces.]
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Fæcula (?), n. [L.] See .
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Faëry (?), n. & a. Fairy. [Archaic] Spenser.
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Faffle (?), v. i. [Cf. , .] To stammer. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
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Fag (făg) n. A knot or coarse part in cloth. [Obs.]
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fag (făg), n. a male homosexual; -- always used disparagingly and considered offensive. Shortened form of . [Slang, disparaging.]
Syn. -- faggot.
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Fag, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fagged (făgd); p. pr. & vb. n. Fagging (făggĭng).] [Cf. LG. fakk wearied, weary, vaak slumber, drowsiness, OFries. fai, equiv. to fāch devoted to death, OS. fēgi, OHG. feigi, G. feig, feige, cowardly, Icel. feigr fated to die, AS. fǣge, Scot. faik, to fail, stop, lower the price; or perh. the same word as E. flag to droop.] 1. To become weary; to tire.
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Creighton withheld his force till the Italian began to fag. G. Mackenzie.
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2. To labor to wearness; to work hard; to drudge.
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Read, fag, and subdue this chapter. Coleridge.
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3. To act as a fag, or perform menial services or drudgery, for another, as in some English schools.
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Coloq. To fag out , to become untwisted or frayed, as the end of a rope, or the edge of canvas.
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Fag, v. t. 1. To tire by labor; to exhaust; as, he was almost fagged out.
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2. Anything that fatigues. [R.]
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It is such a fag, I came back tired to death. Miss Austen.
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Coloq. Brain fag . (Med.) See .
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Fagaceae prop. n. a natural family of chiefly monoecious trees and shrubs, including beeches, chestnuts, and oaks; it includes the genera Castanea; Castanopsis; Chrysolepis; Fagus; Lithocarpus; Nothofagus; and Quercus.
Syn. -- family Fagaceae, beech family.
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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, etc.
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2. The refuse or meaner part of anything.
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The fag-end of business. Collier.
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fagged adj. 1. same as , 1.
Syn. -- burned-out(prenominal), burnt-out(prenominal), burned out(predicate), burnt out(predicate), exhausted, fatigued, played-out(prenominal), played out(predicate), spent, washed-out(prenominal), washed out(predicate), worn-out(prenominal), worn out(predicate).
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fagging (făggĭng), n. Laborious drudgery; esp., the acting as a drudge for another at an English school.
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faggot (făgŭt), n. [perh. from fagot{5}, a shriveled old woman.] a male homosexual; -- always used disparagingly and considered offensive. [Slang, disparaging]
Syn. -- fagot, fag, fairy, pansy, queer, poof, poove, pouf.
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2. a bundle of sticks and branches bound together; -- same as .
Syn. -- fagot.
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Fagopyrum prop. n. a genus of plants of the buckwheat family, including the buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum; in some classifications included in the genus Polygonum.
Syn. -- genus Fagopyrum.
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fagot (făgŭt) n. [F., prob. aug. of L. fax, facis, torch, perh. orig., a bundle of sticks; cf. Gr. fakelos bundle, fagot. Cf. .] 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.
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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.
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3. (Mus.) A bassoon. See .
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4. A person hired to take the place of another at the muster of a company. [Eng.] Addison.
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5. An old shriveled woman. [Slang, Eng.]
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Coloq. Fagot iron , iron, in bars or masses, manufactured from fagots. -- Coloq. Fagot vote , the vote of a person who has been constituted a voter by being made a landholder, for party purposes. [Political cant, Eng.]
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Fagot (?) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fagoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fagoting.] To make a fagot of; to bind together in a fagot or bundle; also, to collect promiscuously. Dryden.
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Fagotto (?), n. [It. See .] (Mus.) The bassoon; -- so called from being divided into parts for ease of carriage, making, as it were, a small fagot.
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Faham (?), n. The leaves of an orchid (Angraecum fragrans), of the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, used (in France) as a substitute for Chinese tea.
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Fahlband (?), n. [G., fr. fahl dun-colored + band a band.] (Mining) A stratum in crystalline rock, containing metallic sulphides. Raymond.

{ Fahlerz (?), Fahlband (?), } n. [G. fahlerz; fahl dun-colored, fallow + erz ore.] (Min.) Same as .
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Fahlunite (fälŭnīt), n. [From Fahlun, a place in Sweden.] (Min.) A hydrated silica of alumina, resulting from the alteration of iolite.
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Fahr. adj. [abbrev.] an abbreviation of ; -- used in designating temperatures; as, 72° Fahr. Used as an alternative to celsius.
Syn. -- fahrenheit, f., F.
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Fahrenheit (?) prop. a. [G.] Conforming to the scale used by Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit in the graduation of his thermometer; of or relating to Fahrenheit's thermometric scale. Used as an alternative to celsius. -- n. The Fahrenheit thermometer or scale.
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☞ The Coloq. 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 one atmosphere of pressure is 212 degrees. It is commonly used in the United States and in England.
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faience, Faïence (?), n. [F., fr. Faenza, a town in Italy, the original place of manufacture.] Glazed earthenware; esp., a fine variety that which is decorated with colorful designs in an opaque glaze.
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Fail (fāl) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Failed (fāld); p. pr. & vb. n. Failing.] [F. failir, fr. L. fallere, falsum, to deceive, akin to E. fall. See , and cf. , , .] 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.
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As the waters fail from the sea. Job xiv. 11.
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Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign. Shak.
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2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; -- used with of.
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If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to their size. Berke.
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3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.
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When earnestly they seek
Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail. Milton.
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4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails.
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5. To perish; to die; -- used of a person. [Obs.]
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Had the king in his last sickness failed. Shak.
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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.
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Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. Ezra iv. 22.
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Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale. Shak.
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7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired ; to be baffled or frusrated.
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Our envious foe hath failed. Milton.
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8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken.
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Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not. Milton.
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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; as, many credit unions failed in the late 1980's.
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Fail (?), v. t. 1. To be wanting to ; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert.
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There shall not fail thee a man on the throne. 1 Kings ii. 4.
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2. To miss of attaining; to lose. [R.]
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Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed. Milton.
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Fail, n. [OF. faille, from failir. See , 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.
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2. Death; decease. [Obs.] Shak.
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Failance (?), n. [Of. faillance, fr. faillir.] Fault; failure; omission. [Obs.] Bp. Fell.
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failed adj. unsuccessful. Opposite of successful.
Syn. -- failing.
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Failing, n. 1. A failing short; a becoming deficient; failure; deficiency; imperfection; weakness; lapse; fault; infirmity; as, a mental failing.
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And ever in her mind she cast about
For that unnoticed failing in herself. Tennyson.
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2. The act of becoming insolvent of bankrupt.

Syn. -- See .
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Faille (?), n. [F.] A soft silk, heavier than a foulard and not glossy.
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Failure (?), n. [From .] 1. Cessation of supply, or total defect; a failing; deficiency; as, failure of rain; failure of crops.
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2. Omission; nonperformance; as, the failure to keep a promise.
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3. Want of success; the state of having failed.
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4. Decay, or defect from decay; deterioration; as, the failure of memory or of sight.
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5. A becoming insolvent; bankruptcy; suspension of payment; as, failure in business.
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6. A failing; a slight fault. [Obs.] Johnson.
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Fain (?), a. [OE. fain, fagen, AS. fægen; akin to OS. fagan, Icel. faginn glad; AS. fægnian to rejoice, OS. faganōn, Icel. fagna, Goth. faginōn, cf. Goth. fahēds joy; and fr. the same root as E. fair. Srr , a., and cf. to court favor.] 1. Well-pleased; glad; apt; wont; fond; inclined.
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Men and birds are fain of climbing high. Shak.
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To a busy man, temptation is fainto climb up together with his business. Jer. Taylor.
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2. Satisfied; contented; also, constrained. Shak.
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The learned Castalio was fain to make trechers at Basle to keep himself from starving. Locke.
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Fain, adv. With joy; gladly; -- with wold.
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He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat. Luke xv. 16.
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Fain Would I woo her, yet I dare not. Shak.
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Fain, v. t. & i. To be glad ; to wish or desire. [Obs.]
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Whoso fair thing does fain to see. Spencer.
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{ Faineance (?), Faineancy (?) }, n. [Cf. OF. faineance. See .] Do-nothingness; inactivity; indolence.

The mask of sneering faineance was gone. C. Kingsley.
[Webster Suppl.]

faineant, fainéant (f�n�äN), a. [F.; fait he does + néant nothing.] Doing nothing; shiftless; disinclined to work or exertion.
Syn. -- bone-idle, bone-lazy, do-nothing(prenominal), indolent, lazy, otiose, shiftless, slothful, workshy, work-shy.
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faineant, fainéant (f�n�äN), n. A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard. Sir W. Scott.
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Fainéant deity. A deity recognized as real but conceived as not acting in human affairs, hence not worshiped.
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Faint (fānt), a. [Compar. Fainter (-ẽr); superl. Faintest.] [OE. feint, faint, false, faint, F. feint, p. p. of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See , and cf. .] 1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, faint with fatigue, hunger, or thirst.
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2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly; dejected; depressed; as, “Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.” Old Proverb.
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3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as, a faint color, or sound.
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4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts; faint resistance.
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The faint prosecution of the war. Sir J. Davies.
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Faint, n. The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a swoon. [R.] See , n.
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The saint,
Who propped the Virgin in her faint. Sir W. Scott.
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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 , n.
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Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away. Guardian.
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If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by the way. Mark viii. 8.
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