feature

[ fee-cher ]

/ ˈfi tʃər /

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.

Nearby words

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

SYNONYMS FOR feature

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.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR feature ON THESAURUS.COM

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

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

Examples from the Web for features

He reminisces about the features of Texas life that make Texas its own, distinctive community.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is an expanded place-name index with more than 150,000 entries, and separate undersea, Moon, and Mars features.
The Best Coffee Table Books of 2014|Robert Birnbaum|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Its 8-megapixel camera, inclusive of true-tone and dual-LED f/2.2 aperture flashes, features optical image stabilization.
Why Every Home Needs a Drone This Holiday|Charlie Gilbert|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She also features a more natural face than the one of docile serenity so often bestowed on the Queen of Heaven.
The Virgin Mary Lookbook|William O’Connor|December 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It features on its front and back covers an intricate “original” design, embossed in gold.
Rand Paul’s Many Leather-Bound Books|Olivia Nuzzi|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Something like a smile attempted to contract the Indian's features; but the attempt was not a happy one, and stopped at a grimace.
The Gold-Seekers|Gustave Aimard
Other features are a rose garden, enclosed in the ripest of all the old red walls, and a model farm.
Denis Dent|Ernest W. Hornung
All these features are now given to the shingle by modern machines.
Inventions in the Century|William Henry Doolittle
"I do not understand you, seigneur," rejoined Lodgard, while his features assumed an arrogant and scornful expression.
The Bath Keepers, v.2 (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume VIII)|Charles Paul de Kock
The face which she turned towards us was of the strangest livid tint, and the features were absolutely devoid of any expression.
The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 26, February 1893|Various

British Dictionary definitions for features

feature

/ (ˈfiːtʃə) /

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 features

features

"parts of the visible body" (especially the face), c.1300, from feature (n.).

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.

feature

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

feature

noun

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

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

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Origin of feature

Examples from the Web for features

feature

noun

verb

Word Origin for feature

features

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