fess
/fɛs/ verb, noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms fesses fessing fessed 'fess fesse feese
- verb To confess; to admit.
- noun (heraldry) A horizontal band across the middle of the shield.
- adjective (UK dialect) Proud; conceited.
- adjective (UK dialect) Lively; active; strong.
- adjective (UK dialect) Of animals, bad-tempered, fierce.
- proper noun A surname from German.
Synonyms
Etymology
Clipping of confess.
From Middle English fesse, from Old French fesse, an alteration of faisse, from Latin fascia. Cognate with fajita, fascia, and fascism.
From German Fess, a variant of Feese.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A band drawn horizontally across the center of an escutcheon, and containing in breadth the third part of it; one of the nine honorable ordinaries. Fess point (Her.), the exact center of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon.
Etymology [OF. fesse, faisse, F. fasce, fr. L. fascia band. See Fascia.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fess”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details