fess

or fesse

[fes]

noun Heraldry.

an ordinary in the form of a broad horizontal band across the middle of an escutcheon.

Origin of fess

1350–1400; Middle English fesse < Anglo-French ≪ Latin fascia fascia

fess

[fes]

Verb Phrases

fess up, Informal. to admit or concede, especially freely.

Origin of fess

First recorded in 1830–40; aphetic shortening of confess

fess

or fes·sor

[fes or fes-er]

noun Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S.

a teacher.

Origin of fess

shortening of professor

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

Examples from the Web for fess

Contemporary Examples of fess

Yele Haiti did fess up to paying you $100,000 for a benefit concert in Monaco.
Wyclef Jean Talks Lauryn Hill, the Yele Haiti Controversy, and Chris Christie
Marlow Stern
November 20, 2014
In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron asks British blokes to fess up about their fantasies—for the good of the children.
Britain’s Idiotic “Opt-In” Porn Ban
Brendan O’Neill
November 23, 2013
After initial denials, Quayle was eventually forced to fess up to composing the salacious posts.
Kate Upton’s Congressman Uncle and More Scandalous Political Ties
Ben Jacobs
February 15, 2012
This makes the third date a natural moment to fess up about any contagious diseases.
Third-Date Confessions
Hannah Seligson
May 20, 2010
The “fess up” cliché assumes that the media climate has not changed since the 1990s.
Could It Get Worse?
Eric Dezenhall
December 2, 2009

Historical Examples of fess

So I said, "'Fess up, Jimmy, and then you'll be able to enjoy your call."
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1907 to 1908
Lucy Maud Montgomery
You know every man, woman, and child by name and nature—now 'fess!
Joyce's Investments
Fannie E. Newberry
An' fess a loaf o' white breid; we canna bide for the parritch.'
Robert Falconer
George MacDonald
I done 'fess, and I done 'fess butler, only he prick my hands werry sore.
A Bottle in the Smoke
Milne Rae
In the base point on an escutcheon gu., a fess embattled arg.
English Heraldic Book-stamps
Cyril Davenport

British Dictionary definitions for fess

fess

verb

(intr foll by up) informal, mainly US to make a confession

Word Origin for fess

C19: shortened from confess

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 fess

shortened form of confess, attested by 1840, American English. Related: Fessed; fesses; fessing.

"white horizontal band across an escutcheon," late 15c., from Old French faisce, from Latin fascia (see fasces).