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1. To repair; to prepare; to put in order. [Prov. Eng.] Carlyle.

An authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree. His fiat laid the corner stone. Willis.

Commission; fiat; order; decree. [Obs.] Spenser.

An order of sponges having a fibrous skeleton, including the commercial sponges.

especially, a feigned or invented story, whether oral or written. Hence: A story told in order to deceive; a fabrication; -- opposed to fact, or reality. The fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon. Sir W. Raleigh. When it could no longer be denied that her flight had been voluntary, numerous fictions were inv…

Next in order after the fourteenth; -- the ordinal of fifteen.

Next in order after the fourth; -- the ordinal of five.

In the fifth place; as the fifth in order.

Next in order after the forty-ninth; -- the ordinal of fifty.

A mode of expressing abstract or immaterial ideas by words which suggest pictures or images from the physical world; pictorial language; a trope; hence, any deviation from the plainest form of statement. To represent the imagination under the figure of a wing. Macaulay.

An orderly succession; a line; a row; as:

An ordinary equaling in breadth one fourth of the chief, to the lowest portion of which it corresponds in position.

Having a fringed border; fimbriate.

ance against fire. -- Fire opal, a variety of opal giving firelike reflections. -- Fire ordeal, an ancient mode of trial, in which the test was the ability of the accused to handle or tread upon red-hot irons. Abbot. -- Fire pan, a pan for holding or conveying fire, especially the receptacle for the priming of a gun…

An officer who has authority to direct in the extinguishing of fires, or to order what precautions shall be taken against fires; -- called also fireward.

y and some other Oriental countries, a decree or mandate issued by the sovereign; a royal order or grant; -- generally given for special objects, as to a traveler to insure him protection and assistance. [Written also firmaun.]

Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest; as, the first day of a month; the first year of a reign.

First brought forth; first in the order of nativity; eldest; hence, most excellent; most distinguished or exalted.

ter, qualitties, circumstances, education, etc.; qualified; competent; worthy. That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in. Shak. Fit audience find, though few. Milton.

To convey, as a message, by means of flag signals; as, to flag an order to troops or vessels at a distance.