feature English · revision 2999

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1325|origins=la factūra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈfiː.tʃə/, US /ˈfiː.tʃɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|feture]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|xno|feture]], Old French faiture “deed, action; shape, form; countenance”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|factūra|t=a formation, a working]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from the past participle stem of [[m|la|facere|t=to make, do]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*dhe-|t=to set, put]].^(Etymonline) Latin factūra is also the source of Spanish hechura, Portuguese feitura and Italian fattura.^(Etymonline) The verb is from the noun.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Make, form, shape, especially of the body: about 1325 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Barnhart gives “something created in a particular shape”, about 1375, and the features of the face in 1378, in ''Piers Plowman''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Trench noted that a feature is now always a part of a larger whole, as a feature of a landscape or the features of a face, but that once anything made was a ''feature''.^(Trench 1859) The form of the face is from about 1350,^(OED 1989) and a single part of the face from 1828.^(OED 1989) A distinctive part or characteristic of anything is first found in Dryden's translation of Saint-Évremond,^(Barnhart 1988) by the 1690s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) A special attraction in entertainment is from 1801, a newspaper ''feature'' by 1855, and a ''feature film'' by 1913.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to resemble in features” from 1755,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and “to make a special display of” from 1888.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In Midland and southern English dialect ''feature'' meant “to resemble in looks”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1325 – form, shape.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1350 – the form of the face.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1690s – a distinctive part.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1755 – verb, to resemble.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1801 – a special attraction.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1855 – a newspaper feature.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1888 – verb, to make a feature of.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1913 – a feature film.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A part of the [[face]], such as the eyes or nose, or in the plural the whole face.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A prominent or distinctive part or [[characteristic]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The main film in a cinema programme; a full-length film.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A special article or programme in a newspaper or broadcast.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give special prominence to.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To have as an important part: ''the film features a famous cast''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To play an important part.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[featureless]]

+ * [[cofeature]]

+ * [[defeature]]

+ * [[disfeature]]

+ * [[feature-length]]

+ * [[featurette]]

+ * [[misfeature]]

+ * [[telefeature]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fact]]

+ * [[factory]]

+ * [[facture]]

+ * [[fashion]]

+ * [[feat]]

+ * [[feasible]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}