face

Pronunciation

• IPA: /feɪs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English face, borrowed from Old French face (“face, countenance, appearance”),^[2][3] from Vulgar Latin *facia,^[2][4][5] from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance, figure; visage”).^[2][6] Most sources derive faciēs from facere (“to make, do”), as “a form given to something”,^[2][6][5][3] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dhē- (“to set, put”),^[2][4] but the Shorter Oxford relates it instead to fax (“torch”).^[7] The Vulgar Latin form also gave Italian faccia.^[2][5] The French word itself was given up for the front of the head in the 17th century, in favour of visage.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The human face, a facial expression, a likeness: about 1300, in Arthour and Merlin.^[3][2] It replaced Old English andwlita and ansien, both from verbs of seeing.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the late 14th century it came to mean an outward appearance as opposed to reality, the front of anything, and the surface of the earth or sea.^[2] The verb first meant “to deface” (about 1400),^[2][3] then “to show a bold face, to boast” (1440),^[3][2] and “to confront” from 1465, in the Paston Letters.^[3] “To cover the front of” is from the 1560s and “to turn the face towards” from the 1630s.^[2] To fly in the face of (16th century) pictures a dog springing at someone, and lose face and save face translate Chinese expressions.^[8] Face the music is recorded in 1850, in debates of the US Congress.^[2] The adjective facial meant “face to face” in 1609 and “of the face” from 1818, and a facial treatment is American, from 1914.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – the face (Arthour and Merlin).^[3]
• late 14th century – outward appearance; the front or surface.^[2]
• c. 1400 – verb, to deface.^[2][3]
• 1440 – verb, to show a bold face.^[3]
• 1465 – verb, to confront (Paston Letters).^[3]
• 1560s – to cover the front of.^[2]
• 1630s – to turn towards.^[2]
• 1818 – facial, of the face.^[3]
• 1850 – face the music.^[2]
• 1914 – facial, a beauty treatment.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The front of the head, from forehead to chin.
2. A look or expression; a grimace: make a face.
3. Outward appearance.
4. Standing in the eyes of others; prestige: lose face.
5. Boldness; impudence.
6. The front, main or outer surface of something: the face of a cliff.

Verb

1. To have the front turned towards: the house faces the sea.
2. To confront boldly; to deal with.
3. To be certain to meet: face a fine.
4. To cover the front or surface of.

Word family

• faceable
• faceless
• facelessness

Related words

• facade
• facial
• facies
• surface
• facet
• deface
• efface
• superficial
• fact

Usage notes

RHWU distinguishes face, the combination of features, from countenance, the face as it shows a state of mind, and visage, a more formal word for the face as it appears, especially when stern.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House