Category: Word of the Day – F

ETYMOLOGY
perhaps representative (with some change of sense) Old English  fedels (fatted bird),
the Germanic base of feed (vb.) + the Germanic base of ‑els

EXAMPLE
(for n. 2)
“…It will be of a pretty little Infant: O how heartily I shall love it! I do
already dote upon it; for it will be my dainty Fedle-darling, my genteel Dilli-minion …”

From: The third book of the Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais
Translation by Thomas Urquhart. 1693

ETYMOLOGY
from fore- (prefix) + buttock (n.)

EXAMPLE
“…Nothing in Nature is so lewd as Peg,
Yet, for the World, she would not shew her Leg!
While bashful Jenny, ev’n at Morning-Prayer,
Spreads her Fore-Buttocks to the Navel bare.
But diff’rent Taste in diff’rent Men prevails,
And one is fired by Heads, and one by Tails;
Some feel no Flames but at the Court or Ball,
And others hunt white Aprons in the Mall…”

From: Sober Advice from Horace: to the young gentlemen about town.
As deliver’d in his second sermon.
Imitated in the manner of Mr. Pope.
…as restored by the Rev’d. R. Bentley, 1734

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin fidelis (faithful, loyal) + -ous

EXAMPLE
“…I ever (quoth Rhoxenor) have found thee cordially fidelious, doe but doe as thou hast indented, and expect what wealth, or honour thou canst covet, while Clodomer lives, and when his death, puts the Diadem upon my head, to be my only favourite…”

From: The Loves of Amandus and Sophronia
By Samuel Sheppard, 1650

ETYMOLOGY
from fop (n.) + doodle (n.)

EXAMPLE
“…Quoth he, This scheme of th’ heavens set,
Discovers how in fight you met
At Kingston with a may-pole idol,
And that y’ were bang’d both back and side well;
And though you overcame the bear,
The dogs beat you at Brentford fair;
Where sturdy butchers broke your noddle,
And handled you like a fop-doodle…”

From: Hudibras: The Second Part
By Samuel Butler, 1664

ETYMOLOGY
apparently a random formation, possibly influenced by doodle (n.) and perhaps also fopdoodle (n.)

EXAMPLE
“…But to look for such things from a revengful mind, is as unlikely as to make the bristly skin of a Hedghog smooth. And when all the Stuff in the Letters are scann’d, what Fadoodles are brought to light?…”

From: Scrinia Reserata a Memorial Offer’d to the Great Deservings of John Williams
By John Hacket, 1693

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin famigerare; formed on fama (a being much talked about, report) + gerere (to carry)

EXAMPLE
“…Renowned Sir, I made bold to beautify and embellish this worthless contemned work I am upon, with the oriental lustre of your eminent and deservedly most famigerous name: for which presumption I intended to crave your pardon, and behold! I am prevented, not with your absolution only, but with a grateful acceptance…”

From: The Whole Works of the Rev. John Lightfoot
Edited by the Rev. John Rogers Pitman, Volume XIII. 1824
Letters to and from Doctor Lightfoot. Letter XXVII.

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin femina (woman, feminine) + -ary

ETYMOLOGY
from fucation (a painting the face; hence, the giving of a false semblance or appearance, counterfeiting), (from Latin fucatus, pa. pple. of fucare (to paint, rouge)) + -ous

EXAMPLE
“…but then the condition must be possible in his power to whom ’tis made, and the perfor∣mance according to the promisers Wil or liking; els it can∣not be candid or current. For to offer a courtesy under impossible condition, is frivolous or fucatious: as if one should offer mony to a blind Man on condition he wil tel what coin ’tis; which is al one as to deny an alms: nay in som sort wors, sith ’tis a denial with delusion and derision, or a meer mockery…”

From: Theoremata Theologica: Theological Treatises.
Octo theses theologicæ: Eight theses of divinity
By Robert Vilvain, 1654

ETYMOLOGY
from facund (eloquent) + -ate

EXAMPLE
To facundate your writing , you need to understand the subtleties and nuances of language.

ETYMOLOGY
from flesh (n.) + -ful

EXAMPLE
“…He looked like one of those burly Flemings that Rembrandt would sometimes paint, with his orange moustache and imperial, his solid fleshful face, and his big, chubby hands, on whose knuckles were little tufts of tawny hair…”

From: Loaded Dice: A Novel
By Edgar Fawcett, 1891