Falsity Fal"si·ty noun ; plural Falsities . [ Latin falsitas : confer French fausseté , Old French also, falsité . See False , adjective ] 1. The quality of being false; coutrariety or want of conformity to truth.

Probability does not make any alteration, either in the truth or falsity of things.

South. 2. That which is false; falsehood; a lie; a false assertion.

Men often swallow falsities for truths.

Sir T. Brown. Syn. -- Falsehood; lie; deceit. -- Falsity , Falsehood , Lie . Falsity denotes the state or quality of being false. A falsehood is a false declaration designedly made. A lie is a gross, unblushing falsehood. The falsity of a person's assertion may be proved by the evidence of others and thus the charge of falsehood be fastened upon him.

Falter Fal"ter transitive verb To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Falter Fal"ter intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Faltered ; present participle & verbal noun Faltering .] [ Middle English falteren , faltren , probably from fault . See Fault , v. & noun ] 1. To hesitate; to speak brokenly or weakly; to stammer; as, his tongue falters .

With faltering speech and visage incomposed.

Milton. 2. To tremble; to totter; to be unsteady. "He found his legs falter ." Wiseman. 3. To hesitate in purpose or action.

Ere her native king
Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms.

Shak. 4. To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; -- said of the mind or of thought.

Here indeed the power of disinct conception of space and distance falters .

I. Taylor.

Falter Fal"ter transitive verb To utter with hesitation, or in a broken, trembling, or weak manner.

And here he faltered forth his last farewell.

Byron.

Mde me most happy, faltering "I am thine."

Tennyson.

Falter Fal"ter noun [ See Falter , intransitive verb ] Hesitation; trembling; feebleness; an uncertain or broken sound; as, a slight falter in her voice.

The falter of an idle shepherd's pipe.

Lowell.

Faltering Fal"ter·ing adjective Hesitating; trembling. "With faltering speech." Milton. -- noun Falter; halting; hesitation. -- Fal"ter*ing*ly , adverb

Faluns Fa`luns" noun [ French] (Geol.) A series of strata, of the Middle Tertiary period, of France, abounding in shells, and used by Lyell as the type of his Miocene subdivision.

Falwe Fal"we adjective & noun Fallow. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Falx Falx noun [ Latin , a sickle.] (Anat.) A curved fold or process of the dura mater or the peritoneum; esp., one of the partitionlike folds of the dura mater which extend into the great fissures of the brain.

Famble Fam"ble intransitive verb [ Middle English falmelen ; confer SW. famla to grope, Danish famle to grope, falter, hesitate, Icelandic fālma to grope. Confer Famble .] To stammer. [ Obsolete] Nares.

Famble Fam"ble noun [ Confer Famble , v. ] A hand. [ Slang & Obsolete] "We clap our fambles ." Beau. & Fl.

Fame Fame noun [ Old French fame , Latin fama , from fari to speak, akin to Greek ............ a saying, report, ............... to speak. See Ban , and confer Fable , Fate , Euphony , Blame .] 1. Public report or rumor.

The fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house.

Gen. xlv. 16. 2. Report or opinion generally diffused; renown; public estimation; celebrity, either favorable or unfavorable; as, the fame of Washington.

I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited.

Shak. Syn. -- Notoriety; celebrity; renown; reputation.

Fame Fame transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Famed ,; present participle & verbal noun Faming .] 1. To report widely or honorably.

The field where thou art famed
To have wrought such wonders.

Milton. 2. To make famous or renowned.

Those Hesperian gardens famed of old.

Milton.

Fameless Fame"less adjective Without fame or renown. -- Fame"less*ly , adverb

Familiar Fa·mil`iar adjective [ Middle English familer , familier , French familier , from Latin familiaris , from familia family. See Family .] 1. Of or pertaining to a family; domestic. " Familiar feuds." Byron. 2. Closely acquainted or intimate, as a friend or companion; well versed in, as any subject of study; as, familiar with the Scriptures. 3. Characterized by, or exhibiting, the manner of an intimate friend; not formal; unconstrained; easy; accessible. "In loose, familiar strains." Addison.

Be thou familiar , but by no means vulgar.

Shak. 4. Well known; well understood; common; frequent; as, a familiar illustration.

That war, or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us.

Shak.

There is nothing more familiar than this.

Locke. 5. Improperly acquainted; wrongly intimate. Camden. Familiar spirit , a demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at call. 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 7-9.

Familiar Fa·mil"iar noun 1. An intimate; a companion.

All my familiars watched for my halting.

Jer. xx. 10. 2. An attendant demon or evil spirit. Shak. 3. (Court of Inquisition) A confidential officer employed in the service of the tribunal, especially in apprehending and imprisoning the accused.

Familiarity Fa·mil`iar"i·ty noun ; plural Familiarities . [ Middle English familarite , French familiarité from Latin faniliaritas . See Familiar .] 1. The state of being familiar; intimate and frequent converse, or association; unconstrained intercourse; freedom from ceremony and constraint; intimacy; as, to live in remarkable familiarity . 2. Anything said or done by one person to another unceremoniously and without constraint; esp., in the plural , such actions and words as propriety and courtesy do not warrant; liberties. Syn. -- Acquaintance; fellowship; affability; intimacy. See Acquaintance .

Familiarization Fa·mil`iar·i·za"tion noun The act or process of making familiar; the result of becoming familiar; as, familiarization with scenes of blood.

Familiarize Fa·mil"iar·ize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Familiarized ; present participle & verbal noun Familiarizing .] [ Confer French familiariser .] 1. To make familiar or intimate; to habituate; to accustom; to make well known by practice or converse; as, to familiarize one's self with scenes of distress. 2. To make acquainted, or skilled, by practice or study; as, to familiarize one's self with a business, a book, or a science.

Familiarly Fa"mil"iar·ly adverb In a familiar manner.

Familiarness Fa·mil"iar·ness noun Familiarity. [ R.]

Familiary Fa·mil"ia·ry adjective [ Latin familiaris . See Familiar .] Of or pertaining to a family or household; domestic. [ Obsolete] Milton.

Familism Fam"i·lism noun The tenets of the Familists. Milton.

Familist Fam"i·list noun [ From Family .] (Eccl. Hist.) One of afanatical Antinomian sect originating in Holland, and existing in England about 1580, called the Family of Love , who held that religion consists wholly in love.

Familistery Fam"i·lis·ter·y noun ; plural Familisteries [ French familistère .] A community in which many persons unite as in one family, and are regulated by certain communistic laws and customs.

Familistic, Familistical Fam`i·listic, Fam`i·lis"tic·al adjective Pertaining to Familists. Baxter.

Family Fam"i·ly noun ; plural Families . [ Latin familia , from famulus servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, confer faamat he dwells, Sanskrit dhāman house, from dhā to set, make, do: confer French famille . Confer Do , transitive verb , Doom , Fact , Feat .] 1. The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders. 2. The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.

The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society.

H. Spencer. 3. Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or race; kindred; house; as, the human family ; the family of Abraham; the father of a family .

Go ! and pretend your family is young.

Pope. 4. Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage. 5. Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family . 6. A group of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family . 7. (Biol.) A group of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In zoölogy a family is less comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same thing as an order. Family circle . See under Circle . -- Family man . (a) A man who has a family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him andd dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. "The Jews are generally, when married, most exemplary family men ." Mayhew. -- Family of curves or surfaces (Geom.) , a group of curves or surfaces derived from a single equation. -- In a family way , like one belonging to the family. "Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way , and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks?" Thackeray. -- In the family way , pregnant. [ Colloq.]

Famine Fam"ine noun [ French famine , from Latin fames hunger; confer Greek ............... want, need, Sanskrit hāni loss, lack, hā to leave.] General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. "Worn with famine ." Milton.

There was a famine in the land.

Gen. xxvi. 1. Famine fever (Medicine) , typhus fever.

Famish Fam"ish transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Famished ; present participle & verbal noun Famishing .] [ Middle English famen ; confer Old French afamer , Latin fames . See Famine , and confer Affamish .] 1. To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger. Shak. 2. To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hanger.

And when all the land of Egypt was famished , the people cried to Pharaoh for bread.

Cen. xli. 55.

The pains of famished Tantalus he'll feel.

Dryden. 3. To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by deprivation or denial of anything necessary.

And famish him of breath, if not of bread.

Milton. 4. To force or constrain by famine.

He had famished Paris into a surrender.

Burke.

Famish Fam"ish intransitive verb 1. To die of hunger; to starve. 2. To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to come near to perish.

You are all resolved rather to die than to famish ?

Shak. 3. To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or necessary.

The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish .

Prov. x. 3.

Famishment Fam"ish·ment noun State of being famished.

Famosity Fa·mos"i·ty noun [ Latin famositas infamy: confer French famosité . See Famous .] The state or quality of being famous. [ Obsolete] Johnson.

Famous Fa"mous adjective [ Latin famosus , from fama fame: confer French fameux . See Fame .] Celebrated in fame or public report; renowned; mach talked of; distinguished in story; -- used in either a good or a bad sense, chiefly the former; often followed by for ; as, famous for erudition, for eloquence, for military skill; a famous pirate.

Famous for a scolding tongue.

Shak. Syn. -- Noted; remarkable; signal; conspicuous; celebrated; renowned; illustrious; eminent; transcendent; excellent. -- Famous , Renowned , Illustrious . Famous is applied to a person or thing widely spoken of as extraordinary; renowned is applied to those who are named again and again with honor; illustrious , to those who have dazzled the world by the splendor of their deeds or their virtues. See Distinguished .

Famoused Fa"moused adjective Renowned. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Famously Fa"mous·ly adverb In a famous manner; in a distinguished degree; greatly; splendidly.

Then this land was famously enriched
With politic grave counsel.

Shak.

Famousness Fa"mous·ness noun The state of being famous.

Famular Fam"u·lar noun [ Confer Latin famularis of servants.] Domestic; familiar. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Famulate Fam"u·late intransitive verb [ Latin famulatus , past participle of famulari to serve, from famulus servant.] To serve. [ Obsolete]

Famulist Fam"u·list noun [ Latin famulus servant.] A collegian of inferior rank or position, corresponding to the sizar at Cambridge. [ Oxford Univ., Eng.]

Fan Fan noun [ Anglo-Saxon fann , from Latin vannus fan, van for winnowing grain; confer French van . Confer Van a winnowing machine, Winnow .] 1. An instrument used for producing artificial currents of air, by the wafting or revolving motion of a broad surface ; as: (a) An instrument for cooling the person, made of feathers, paper, silk, etc., and often mounted on sticks all turning about the same pivot, so as when opened to radiate from the center and assume the figure of a section of a circle. (b) (Machinery) Any revolving vane or vanes used for producing currents of air, in winnowing grain, blowing a fire, ventilation, etc., or for checking rapid motion by the resistance of the air; a fan blower; a fan wheel. (c) An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and blown away. (d) Something in the form of a fan when spread, as a peacock's tail, a window, etc. (e) A small vane or sail, used to keep the large sails of a smock windmill always in the direction of the wind.

Clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan .

Is. xxx. 24. 2. That which produces effects analogous to those of a fan, as in exciting a flame, etc.; that which inflames, heightens, or strengthens; as, it served as a fan to the flame of his passion. 3. A quintain; -- from its form. [ Obsolete] Chaucer. Fan blower , a wheel with vanes fixed on a rotating shaft inclosed in a case or chamber, to create a blast of air ( fan blast ) for forge purposes, or a current for draft and ventilation; a fanner. -- Fan cricket (Zoology) , a mole cricket. -- Fan light (Architecture) , a window over a door; -- so called from the semicircular form and radiating sash bars of those windows which are set in the circular heads of arched doorways. -- Fan shell (Zoology) , any shell of the family Pectinidæ . See Scallop , noun , 1. -- Fan tracery (Architecture) , the decorative tracery on the surface of fan vaulting. -- Fan vaulting (Architecture) , an elaborate system of vaulting, in which the ribs diverge somewhat like the rays of a fan, as in Henry VII.'s chapel in Westminster Abbey. It is peculiar to English Gothic. -- Fan wheel , the wheel of a fan blower. -- Fan window . Same as Fan light (above).

Fan Fan transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fanned ; present participle & verbal noun Fanning .] [ Confer Old French vanner , Latin vannere . See Fan , noun , Van a winnowing machine.] 1. To move as with a fan.

The air . . . fanned with unnumbered plumes.

Milton. 2. To cool and refresh, by moving the air with a fan; to blow the air on the face of with a fan. 3. To ventilate; to blow on; to affect by air put in motion.

Calm as the breath which fans our eastern groves.

Dryden. 4. To winnow; to separate chaff from, and drive it away by a current of air; as, to fan wheat. Jer. li. 2. 5. To excite or stir up to activity, as a fan excites a flame; to stimulate; as, this conduct fanned the excitement of the populace. Fanning machine , or Fanning mill , a machine for separating seed from chaff, etc., by a blast of air; a fanner.

Fan palm Fan" palm` (Botany) Any palm tree having fan-shaped or radiate leaves; as the Chamærops humilis of Southern Europe; the species of Sabal and Thrinax in the West Indies, Florida, etc.; and especially the great talipot tree ( Corypha umbraculifera ) of Ceylon and Malaya. The leaves of the latter are often eighteen feet long and fourteen wide, and are used for umbrellas, tents, and roofs. When cut up, they are used for books and manuscripts.

Fan-nerved Fan"-nerved` adjective (Bot. & Zoology) Having the nerves or veins arranged in a radiating manner; -- said of certain leaves, and of the wings of some insects.

Fan-tailed Fan"-tailed` adjective (Zoology) Having an expanded, or fan-shaped, tail; as, the fan-tailed pigeon.

Fan-tan Fan"-tan` (făn"tăn`) noun [ Chinese (of Canton) in an-tan-kun gambling house.] 1. A Chinese gambling game in which coins or other small objects are placed upon a table, usually under a cup, and the players bet as to what remainder will be left when the sum of the counters is divided by four. 2. A game with playing cards in which the cards are played in sequences upon the table, the one who first gets rid of his cards being the winner.

Fanal Fa`nal" noun [ French] A lighthouse, or the apparatus placed in it for giving light.

Fanatic Fa·nat"ic adjective [ Latin fanaticus inspired by divinity, enthusiastic, frantic, from fanum fane: confer French fanatique . See Fane .] Pertaining to, or indicating, fanaticism; extravagant in opinions; ultra; unreasonable; excessively enthusiastic, especially on religious subjects; as, fanatic zeal; fanatic notions.

But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast
To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last.

T. Moore.

Fanatic Fa·nat"ic noun A person affected by excessive enthusiasm, particularly on religious subjects; one who indulges wild and extravagant notions of religion.

There is a new word, coined within few months, called fanatics , which, by the close stickling thereof, seemeth well cut out and proportioned to signify what is meant thereby, even the sectaries of our age.

Fuller (1660).

Fanatics are governed rather by imagination than by judgment.

Stowe.

Fanatical Fa·nat"ic·al adjective Characteristic of, or relating to, fanaticism; fanatic. - Fa*nat"ic*al*ly , adverb -- Fa*nat"ic*al*ness , noun

Fanaticism Fa·nat"i·cism noun [ Confer Fanatism .] Excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning zeal, or wild and extravagant notions, on any subject, especially religion; religious frenzy. Syn. -- See Superstition .