feature
[fee-cher]
- 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.
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- 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.
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- to play a major part.
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Origin of feature
Synonyms
See more synonyms for feature on Thesaurus.com1. 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. 2018
Examples from the Web for features
Contemporary Examples
He reminisces about the features of Texas life that make Texas its own, distinctive community.
There is an expanded place-name index with more than 150,000 entries, and separate undersea, Moon, and Mars features.
Its 8-megapixel camera, inclusive of true-tone and dual-LED f/2.2 aperture flashes, features optical image stabilization.
She also features a more natural face than the one of docile serenity so often bestowed on the Queen of Heaven.
It features on its front and back covers an intricate “original” design, embossed in gold.
Historical Examples
She gazed on his features as he slept; and was left to sorrow alone.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
They say that he paints not merely a man's features, but his mind and heart.
The Prophetic Pictures (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
What if Remorse should assume the features of an injured friend?
The Haunted Mind (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
To some features of the Bill he was opposed, but was in favor of its principle.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
In some features, one of the most unusual I have seen since I have been practicing law.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
feature
- 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
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- (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
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Word Origin
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 features
n.
"parts of the visible body" (especially the face), c.1300, from feature (n.).
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feature
n.
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.
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feature
v.
1755, "to resemble," from feature (n.). The sense of "make special display or attraction of" is 1888; entertainment sense from 1897. Related: Featured; featuring.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper