EXTREME n.
r tolerable; hence, furthest degree; any undue departure from the mean; -- often in the plural: things at an extreme distance from each other, the most widely different states, etc.; as, extremes of heat and cold, of virtue and vice; extremes meet. His parsimony went to the extreme of meanness. Bancroft.…
FACTITIOUS a.
; sham; formed by, or adapted to, an artificial or conventional, in distinction from a natural, standard or rule; not natural; as, factitious cinnabar or jewels; a factitious taste. -- Fac-ti"tious*ly, adv. -- Fac*ti"tious-ness, n. He acquires a factitious propensity, he forms an incorrigible habit, of desultory read…
FACULTY n.
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; intellec…
FAIRY n.
An imaginary supernatural being or spirit, supposed to assume a human form (usually diminutive), either male or female, and to meddle for good or evil in the affairs of mankind; a fay. See Elf, and Demon. The fourth kind of spirit [is] called the Fairy. K. James. And now about the caldron sing, Like elves and fairies i…
FALSE a.
the appearance of an arch, though not of arch construction. -- False attic, an architectural erection above the main cornice, concealing a roof, but not having windows or inclosing rooms. -- False bearing, any bearing which is not directly upon a vertical support; thus, the weight carried by a corbel has a false bea…