facade
/fəˈsɑ(ː)d/ noun, verb
Forms facades facading facaded
- noun (architecture) The face of a building, especially the front view or elevation.
- noun (by extension) The face or front (most visible side) of any other thing, such as the prospect of an organ.
- noun (figuratively) A deceptive or insincere outward appearance.
- noun (programming) An object serving as a simplified interface to a larger body of code, as in the facade pattern.
- verb (figurative, transitive, rare) To cover or disguise an outward appearance.
Synonyms
face front frontage appearance cover guise pretence Potemkin village frontal window dressing
Etymology
Borrowed from French façade, from Italian facciata, a derivation of faccia (“front”), from Latin faciēs (“face”); compare face.
Unadapted borrowing from French façade.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The front of a building; esp., the principal front, having some architectural pretensions. Thus a church is said to have its facade unfinished, though the interior may be in use.
Etymology [F., fr. It. facciata, fr. fassia face, L. facies. See Face.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “facade”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details