feature

[fee-cher]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR feature ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a prominent or conspicuous part or characteristic: Tall buildings were a new feature on the skyline.

something offered as a special attraction: This model has several added features.

Also called feature film. the main motion picture in a movie program: What time is the feature?

any part of the face, as the nose, chin, or eyes: prominent features.

features, the face; countenance: to compose one's features for the photographers.

the form or cast of the face: delicate of feature.

a column, cartoon, etc., appearing regularly in a newspaper or magazine.

feature story.

Archaic. make, form, or shape.

verb (used with object), fea·tured, fea·tur·ing.

to be a feature or distinctive mark of: It was industrial expansion that featured the last century.

to make a feature of; give prominence to: to feature a story or picture in a newspaper.

to delineate the main characteristics of; depict; outline.

Informal. to conceive of; imagine; fancy: He couldn't quite feature himself as a bank president.

Older Use. to resemble in features; favor.

verb (used without object), fea·tured, fea·tur·ing.

to play a major part.

Origin of feature

1350–1400; 1905–10 for def 3; Middle English feture < Anglo-French, Middle French faiture < Latin factūra a making. See fact, -ure

Related formstrans·fea·ture, verb (used with object), trans·fea·tured, trans·fea·tur·ing.un·der·fea·ture, noun

Synonyms for feature

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR feature ON THESAURUS.COM

1. Feature, characteristic, peculiarity refer to a distinctive trait of an individual or of a class. Feature suggests an outstanding or marked property that attracts attention: Complete harmony was a feature of the convention. Characteristic means a distinguishing mark or quality (or one of such) always associated in one's mind with a particular person or thing: Defiance is one of his characteristics. Peculiarity means that distinct or unusual characteristic that marks off an individual in the class to which he, she, or it belongs: A blue-black tongue is a peculiarity of the chow chow.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for feature

trait, component, detail, element, item, aspect, factor, article, ingredient, quality, character, innovation, column, story, piece, star, headline, mark, emphasize, advertise

Examples from the Web for feature

Contemporary Examples of feature

Grindr introduced the feature themselves in October the same year and called it ‘tribes.’
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem
David Levesley
January 9, 2015
Jourdan Dunn is the first sole black woman to feature on a British ‘Vogue’ cover in 12 years.
One Vogue Cover Doesn’t Solve Fashion’s Big Race Problem
Danielle Belton
January 2, 2015
Bad weather is a feature of hundreds of flights across the world every day.
Did Bad Weather Bring Down AirAsia 8501?
Clive Irving
December 29, 2014
The brand logo turned out to feature a graceful archer on horseback, in a Tatar national costume, poised to shoot his arrow.
Rebranding The Land of Mongol Warriors & Ivan The Terrible
Anna Nemtsova
December 25, 2014
The Interview, their fifth feature together, is undoubtedly their most controversial.
James Franco and Seth Rogen Get ‘Naked and Afraid’… And It’s Hilarious
Marlow Stern
December 8, 2014

Historical Examples of feature

His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization.
The Dramatic Values in Plautus
Wilton Wallace Blancke
There is one feature of the regulation in question, however, that does pain us.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 6, May 7, 1870
Various
One feature of the "Monday Evenings" had, in the course of time, to be changed.
Ester Ried Yet Speaking
Isabella Alden
There was not the change of a feature in the face of the woman who listened to the accusation.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
She had fine eyes and a fine complexion, yet no regularity of feature.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for feature

feature

noun

any one of the parts of the face, such as the nose, chin, or mouth

a prominent or distinctive part or aspect, as of a landscape, building, book, etc

the principal film in a programme at a cinema

an item or article appearing regularly in a newspaper, magazine, etca gardening feature

Also called: feature story a prominent story in a newspaper, etca feature on prison reform

a programme given special prominence on radio or television as indicated by attendant publicity

an article offered for sale as a special attraction, as in a large retail establishment

archaic general form or make-up

linguistics a quality of a linguistic unit at some level of descriptiongrammatical feature; semantic feature

verb

(tr) to have as a feature or make a feature of

to give prominence to (an actor, famous event, etc) in a film or (of an actor, etc) to have prominence in a film

(tr) US informal to imagine; considerI can't feature that happening

Word Origin for feature

C14: from Anglo-French feture, from Latin factūra a making, from facere to make

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for feature

early 14c., "make, form, fashion," from Anglo-French feture, from Old French faiture "deed, action; fashion, shape, form; countenance," from Latin factura "a formation, a working," from past participle stem of facere "make, do, perform" (see factitious). Sense of "facial characteristic" is mid-14c.; that of "any distinctive part" first recorded 1690s. Entertainment sense is from 1801; in journalism by 1855. Meaning "a feature film" is from 1913.

1755, "to resemble," from feature (n.). The sense of "make special display or attraction of" is 1888; entertainment sense from 1897. Related: Featured; featuring.