Word: face Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Proto-Italic *-jēs Latin -iēs Latin faciēs Late Latin facia Old French facebor. Middle English face English face From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance”). Doublet of facies. Displaced native onlete (“face, countenance, appearance”), anleth (“face”), from Old English anwlite, andwlita, compare German Antlitz; Old English ansīen (“face”), Middle English neb (“face, nose”) (from Old English nebb), Middle English ler, leor, leer (“face, cheek, countenance”) (from Old English hlēor), and non-native Middle English vis (“face, appearance, look”) (from Old French vis) and Middle English chere (“face”) from Old French chere. In the sense of face as in reputation, influenced by Chinese 面子 (miànzi) or 臉／脸 (liǎn), both of which mean literally the front of the head and metaphorically one's public image. See lose face. Pronunciation: /ˈfeɪ̯s/, /ˈfɛ̝ɪ̯s/, /ˈfɛjs/, /feːs/, /ˈfæ̝ɪ̯s/ 1. The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose, and mouth, and the surrounding area. Example: That girl has a pretty face. Example: The monkey pressed its face against the railings. 2. One's facial expression. Labels: informal, slang Example: Why the sad face? 3. A distorted facial expression; an expression of displeasure, insult, etc. Labels: informal, slang Example: Children! Stop making faces at each other! 4. The amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, etc., without any interest or discount; face value. Labels: informal, slang Example: MAKE Money-wholesale U.S. stamps—buy mint stamps below face. Be a dealer. Send $1.00 for two giant catalogs, refunded first order. Von Stein, Bernardsville, N.J. Example: With certain exceptions for valuable stamps, dealers and many collectors are only willing to offer a percentage of face (80-90%). So instead, Lloyd took the sheets to work and posted a message asking if anyone wanted to buy sheets of old U.S. stamps at face. 5. The mouth. Labels: informal, slang Example: Shut your face! Example: He's always stuffing his face with chips. 6. Makeup; one's complete facial cosmetic application. Labels: informal, slang Example: I'll be out in a sec. Just let me put on my face. 7. Public image; outward appearance. Labels: figuratively Example: Our chairman is the face of this company. Example: He managed to show a bold face despite his embarrassment. 8. Good reputation; standing, in the eyes of others; dignity; prestige. Labels: figuratively Example: lose face Example: save face 9. Shameless confidence; boldness; effrontery. Labels: figuratively Example: You've got some face coming round here after what you've done. Example: a. 1694, John Tillotson, Preface to The Works This is the man that has the face to charge others with false citations. 10. An aspect of the character or nature of someone or something. Labels: figuratively Example: This is a face of her that we have not seen before. Example: Poverty is the ugly face of capitalism. 11. Presence; sight; front. Labels: figuratively Example: to fly in the face of danger Example: to speak before the face of God 12. A person; the self; (reflexively) oneself. Labels: figuratively Example: It was just the usual faces at the pub tonight. Example: He better not show his face around here no more. 13. A familiar or well-known person; a member of a particular scene, such as the music or fashion scene. Labels: figuratively, informal Example: He owned several local businesses and was a face around town. Example: Vincent was the very best dancer in Bay Ridge—the ultimate Face. 14. A headlining wrestler with a persona embodying heroic or virtuous traits and who is regarded as a "good guy", especially one who is handsome and well-conditioned; a baby face. Labels: figuratively, slang Example: The fans cheered on the face as he made his comeback. 15. The frontal aspect of something. Example: The face of the cliff loomed above them. Example: Then, the torpedo bombers arrived, but, unlike those that had dealt Hornet such a heavy blow, these split their attention between Enterprise, South Dakota, Portland, and the rather-bewildered destroyer USS Smith, which got a damaged Kate and its torpedo to the face for its trouble. 16. The frontal aspect of something. Example: An interesting feature of the church is the invisible clock, which you can hear thumping away as you enter. Constructed in 1525, it is one of the oldest timepieces in England. It chimes the hours and the quarters, and every three hours it plays a hymn. But it has no faces. 17. The directed force of something. Example: They turned the boat into the face of the storm. 18. Any surface, especially a front or outer one. Example: Put a big sign on each face of the building that can be seen from the road. Example: They climbed the north face of the mountain. 19. Any of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron; more generally, any of the bounding pieces of a polytope of any dimension. Example: A cube has six faces, each of which is a square. 20. The front surface of a bat. 21. The part of a golf club that hits the ball. 22. The head of a lion, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears. 23. The side of the card that shows its value (as opposed to the back side, which looks the same on all cards of the deck). 24. The player character, especially as opposed to minions or other entities which might absorb damage instead of the player character. Labels: uncountable Example: When playing aggro decks, hit face whenever you can; it's not worth spending your resources to try to control the board. 25. The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end. Example: a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face 26. The exposed surface of the mineral deposit where it is being mined. Also the exposed end surface of a tunnel where digging may still be in progress. 27. A typeface. Example: For the typophiles reading this, the book is attractively designed. It is set in Classic Aldine, a handsome face akin to the more popular Palatino. The designer's work is unfortunately marred by indifferent printing. 28. A mode of regard, whether favourable or unfavourable; favour or anger. Example: The Lord make his face shine vpon thee, and be gracious vnto thee: Example: My face will I turne also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it and defile it.