falter 
Nature speaks her own meaning with an indistinct and 
faltering voice. J. Caird. 
= Syn. 3. Stutter, etc. See stammer. 
falter 1 (fal'ler), n. [< falter^-, t'.] The act of 
faltering, hesitating, trembling, stammering, 
or the like; unsteadiness; hesitation; trem- 
bling; quavering. 
* of an idle shepherd's pipe. Lowell. 
falter 2 (fal'ter), v. t. [E. dial.; origin uncer- 
tain.] To thresh in the chaff; cleanse or sift 
out, as barley. Halliwell. 
falteringly (fal'ter-ing-li), adv. In a faltering 
manner; with hesitation; with a trembling, 
broken voice ; with difficulty or feebleness. 
Then Philip standing up said falteringly, 
"Annie, I came to ask a favour of you.' 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
faltrank, Seefalltrank. 
faluccot, n. An obsolete variant of felucca. 
faluns(fa'16nz),n.^>7. [F. dial.] In geol., strata 
of Miocene Tertiary age occurring in Touraine, 
France. They occur in widely extended but isolated 
patches, rarely more than fifty feet thick, and have long 
been used as a fertilizer. The rock consists of a coarse 
breccia of shells and shell-fragments, mixed with sand, 
and in places passing into limestone. It also contains 
numerous bones of mammals, of species indicating a 
warmer climate than that of the region at the present 
time. 
falweH, a. A Middle English form of /aWotr 1 . 
falwe 2 t, and n. A Middle English form of 
fallow*. 
falx (falks), n. ; pi. falces (fal'sez). [L., a sickle : 
see falcate, falcon, etc.] 1. A metal imple- 
ment, of a form suitable for a pruning-hook, 
sometimes found among ancient remains. 2. 
In anat., something which is falcate or falci- 
form; specifically, a fold of the dura mater 
separating parts of the brain. See falx cere- 
bri and falx cerebelli, below. 3. In herpet., one 
of the poison-fangs of a serpent : so called from 
its shape: generally used in the plural. 4. In 
entom., one of 
the jointed ap- 
pendages un- 
der the front of 
a spider's ceph- 
alothorax, used 
to seize and kill 
its prey. It con- 
sists of two parts, 
the base and the 
pointed and curved 
fang, which folds 
down in a groove of 
the base. A duct 
runs through both joints, opening at the tip of the fang, 
and is connected with a poison-gland in the cephalothorax. 
The falces are also called chelicertK and, incorrectly, man- 
dibles. In some species the two organs are united. The 
term is extended to the similar or corresponding mouth- 
parts of other arachnidans. 
Without any perceptible displacement of itself, it [a 
spider] flashed its falces into my flesh. 
H. 0. Forbes, Eastern Archipelago, p. 216. 
5. In echinoderms, a rotula ; one of the mouth- 
parts of a sea-urchin. See cut under Eciiinoi- 
dea. 6f. A certain grip or trick in wrestling. 
Or by the girdles grasp'd, they practise with the hip, 
The forward, backward falx, the mare, the turn, the trip. 
Dmyton, Polyolbion, I. 244. 
Falx cerebelli, a fold of the dura mater between the 
lateral lobes of the cerebellum. Falx cerebrt, the longi- 
tudinal vertical falcate fold of the dura mater between the 
hemispheres of the cerebrum. It is ossified in some ani- 
mals. 
fama (fa'ma), . [L., a report, rumor; per- 
sonified, Rumor: see /awe 1 .] Report; rumor; 
fame. Fama clamosa, or simply fama, literally, a loud 
or notorious rumor ; a scandalous and widely prevailing 
rumor affecting the character of any one : specifically, in 
Scotch eccles. law, applied to any prevailing scandalous 
report affecting any clergyman, office-bearer, or church- 
member, on which proceedings may be taken by a session 
or presbytery independently of any specific charge made 
by an individual accuser. 
famatinite (fa-mat'i-nit), n. [< Famatina (see 
def.) + -ite 2 .] A. sulphantimonite of copper 
found in the Famatina mountains, Argentine 
Republic. It is isomorphous with enargite. 
fambleH (fam'bl), . i. [< 1&E. famelen, stam- 
mer ; cf . D. fommelen, fumble (> E. fumble), < 
Sw. famla = Dan. famle = Icel. fdlma, grope, 
fumble, Icel. also fig. flinch, falter: see fumble, 
and cf . fumble^.] To stammer. 
To f amble, to maffle in the month as a child that but 
begins to speak. Cotyrave. 
His tongue shal stameren orfamelen. 
Reliquiae Antiques, I. 65. 
famble 2 f (fam'bl), n. [Origin obscure; prob. 
a slang term, lit. fumbler, groper (cf. Ham- 
let's "pickers and stealers" for 'fingers'). < 
fumble^- in its orig. (Scand.) sense, 'fumble, 
Head and Anterior Part {including two 
pairs of legs) of a Tarantula { Tarantula 
carolinensit), enlarged. /", falces. The 
front shows two large and four small simple 
eyes. 
2132 
grope ' ; ult. connected with AS. folm, the hand, 
the palm of the hand: see fumble.] A hand. 
[Old slang.] 
We clap our families. Fletcher, Beggars' Bush, ii. 1. 
Hold yo\ir favibletf and your stamps. 
Middleton and Dckkrr, Roaring Girl, v. 1. 
famble-crop (fam'bl-krop), n. [E.dial. ; <.f am- 
ble, perhaps a var. of wamble (cf. early ME. 
famplen, a verb once occurring, appar. meaning 
'put into '(the mouth of an infant), 'feed'), + 
crop.] The rumen, paunch, or first stomach of 
a ruminant ; a f arding-bag. 
fame 1 (fam), n. [< ME. fame, < OF. (and F.) 
fame = Pr. Sp. Pg. It. fama, < li.fdma, the com- 
mon talk, a report, personified Rumor ; public 
opinion, good or bad fame (= Gr. <t>>i/jy, a voice 
(of mysterious source), a prophetic voice, ora- 
cle, a rumor, reputation, etc.), < fari = Gr. 
tf>dvai, speak, say : see fable, fate.] 1. A public 
report or rumor. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
AUe thlngis sche trowith with-out/am* 
That goddis lawe techith trutbe to be, 
And bidith therbi for ony blame. 
Hymni to Viryin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 116. 
The fame thereof was heard In Pharaoh's house, saying, 
Joseph's brethren are come. Gen. xlv. 16. 
Rebels, figured by the giants, and seditious/amui and li- 
bels, are but brothers and sisters masculine and feminine. 
Bacon, Fragment of an Essay on Fame (ed. 1887). 
There goes a fame, and that seconded by most of our 
own Historians, though not those the ancientest, thatCon- 
stantine was born iu this Hand. Milton, Hist. Eng., ii. 
2. Report or opinion widely diffused ; renown; 
notoriety ; celebrity, favorable or unfavorable, 
but especially the former; reputation: as, the 
fame of Washington ; literary fame: rarely used 
in the plural. 
Death is ineuitable and the/ow of vertue in> nun-tall. 
Quoted in Booke of Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.), 
[Forewords, p. lit 
A thousand glorious actions, that might claim 
Triumphant laurels, and immortal fame. 
Addison, The Campaign. 
He who would win good fame, said an old law, must hold 
his own against two foes and even against three ; it is only 
from four that he may fly without shame. 
J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 54. 
This is he [Dante] who among literary fames finds only 
two that for growth and immutability can parallel his own. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 3. 
House Of 111 fame. See house. = Syn. 2. Honor, Renoum, 
Glory (see nlory) ; reputation, credit, notoriety. 
fame 1 (fam), v. t. ; pret. and pp. famed, ppr. 
faming. [< ME. famen, make famous, more 
frequently make infamous, defame. Cf. ML. 
famare, < L. fama, fame.] 1. To report. 
The field, where thou art/omed 
To have wrought such wonders. Milton, S. A., 1. 1094. 
2. To make famous. 
Your second birth 
Will/am old Lethe's flood. 
/;. Jonson, Masque of Christmas. 
Fam'd in Misfortune, and in Ruin great. 
Prior, Ode to the Queen, St. 9. 
[Rare in both senses, except in the past par- 
ticiple.] 
To fame itt, to have to do with fame. 
Do you call this fame? I have/awi'd it; I have got im- 
mortal fame : but I'll no more on it. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, ii. 2. 
fame 2 t, f. t. [< ME. famen, by apheresis for de- 
famen : see defame.] To defame. Sitson, iii. 
161. 
False and fekylle was that wyghte, 
That lady for tafamt. 
MS. Cantab. Ff. ii. 38, fol. 71. (HatKweH.) 
fame 3 t, v.i. [WE. famen: see famish.] To fam- 
ish. 
fameful (fam'ful), a. [< /awe 1 + -ful.] Fa- 
mous; famed. [Rare.] 
Whose foaming streame striues proudly to compare 
(Even in the birth) with Fame-fullst Floods that are. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, 1. 3. 
fameless (fam'les), a. [</a;e 1 + -less.] With- 
out fame or renown. 
That man that loves not this day, 
And hugs not in his arms the noble danger, 
May he Aye fameless and forgot ! 
Fletcher, Bonduca, iii. 2. 
famelic't (fa-mel'ik), a. [< I,, famelicus, hun- 
gry, famished, starved, as a noun one starv- 
ing, < fames, hunger: see famish.] Hungry; 
serving to allay hunger. [Rare.] 
One that knows not how to converse with men ... in 
any thing but in the famelic smells of meat and vertigi- 
nous drinking*. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 697. 
famelic 2 t (fa-mel'ik), a. [Earlier famelick; ap- 
par. < L. famelicus, hungry, taken as if a deriv. 
familiar 
(equiv. to familiaricus, domestic) of familia, a 
family: see/aw%.] Domestic. [Rare.] 
Why, thou lookst as like a married man already, with 
as grave a fatherly famelick countenance as ever 1 saw, 
Otmiy, The Atheist (1684). 
fame-worthyt (fam'wer''THi), a. Deserving 
good report or fame. 
The books that I have publish'd in her praise 
Commend her constancy, and that '&famf-iroi 'tlni. 
Middleton, More Dissemblers besides Women, iii. 1. 
famicide (fa'mi-sid), n. [< L. fama, reputa- 
tion, fame, + -cida, a killer, < canlere, kill.] A 
slanderer. Scott. [Rare.] 
familaryt, a. [ME.: see familiar.] Familiar. 
Be not to fers, tofamilary, but frendli of chere. 
The A BCof Arittotle, 1. 6 (E. E. T. 8., extra ser.. 
[VIII. i. et>). 
familiar (fa-mil'yar), a. and n. [Altered in 
spelling to'bring it nearer the L. I. a. < ME. 
famylier, famileer, famulier, familer, famuler, 
intimate, < OF. familier, famelier, famulier, F. 
familier = Pr. Sp. Pg. familiar = It. famigliare 
= D. familiaar = G. familiar = Dan. familiar = 
Sw. familjdr, < L.familiaris, of or belonging to 
a household, domestic, private, of the family, 
intimate, friendly, < familia, household, family : 
see family. II. n. < ME. familer, n., < OF. and 
F. familier, etc., < ~L. familiaris, a familiar ac- 
quaintance, a friend, an intimate, (. familiaris, 
adj.j familiar: see I.] I. a. 1. Pertaining to a 
family ; domestic. [Rare.] 
O perilous fy iv, that in the bedstraw bredeth : 
O famulier [var. famuler] to, that his service bedeth ! 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 540. 
Let us have done with that which cankers life 
Familiar feuds and vain recriminations. Byron. 
2. Having, or springing from, intimate and 
friendly social relations ; closely intimate : as, 
a familiar friend ; familiar companionship ; to 
be on familiar terms with one. 
My/amt7iar friend hath lifted up his heel against me. 
Pa. \li. 9. 
3. Having a friendly aspect or manner; ex- 
hibiting the manner of an intimate friend; af- 
fable; not formal or distant; especially, using 
undue familiarity; intrusive; forward. 
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 3. 
You must not be saucy, 
No, nor at any time/ai/n7i<ir with me. 
Fletcher, Rule a Wife, ii. 3. 
I will take upon me to be so familiar as to say, you 
must accept my invitation. 
Cotton, in Walton's Angler, il. 226. 
4. Characterized by ease or absence of stiff- 
ness or pedantry; unconstrained. 
He unreins 
His muse, and sports in loose familiar strains. 
Addison. 
Ill brook'd he then the pert/amt'JCnr phrase. 
Crabbe, Works, IV. 116. 
5. Having an intimate knowledge; well know- 
ing; well acquainted; well versed (in a sub- 
ject of study): as, he is familiar with the works 
of Horace. 
It will be no loss of time ... to become/amiKar now 
by patient study with those unapproachable models of 
the art of expression which are supplied to us by the lit- 
erature of ancient times. J. Caird. 
Nothing is more common than for men to think that, 
because they are familiar with words, they understand 
the ideas they stand for. 
J. II. Newman, Parochial Sermons, i. 42. 
6. Well known from frequent observation, use, 
ete. ; well understood. 
Familiar in his mouth as household words. 
Shalt., Hen. V., iv. 8. 
The muse of poets feeds her wingtd brood 
By common firesides, on familiar food. 
0. W. Holmes, A Rhymed Lesson. 
Familiar spirit, a spirit or demon supposed to attend 
on an individual, or to come at his call ; the invisible 
agent of a necromancer's will. 
Regard not them that have/amiZiar spirits. 
Lev. xix. 31. 
And he made his son pass through the fire, and ob- 
served times, and used enchantments, and dealt with/a- 
miliar spirits and wizards. 2 Ki. xxi. 6. 
= Syn. 2. Close, intimate, amicable, fraternal, near. 3. 
Social, unceremonious, free, frank. 5. Conversant. 
U. n. 1. A familiar friend; an intimate; a 
close companion ; one long acquainted; one ac- 
customed to another by free, unreserved con- 
verse. 
All my familiars watched for my halting. Jer. X)t. 10. 
What rare discourse are you fallen upon, ha? have you 
found any familiars here, that you are so free? 
B. Joiison, Bartholomew Fair, Ind. 
They seldom visit their friends, except some familiar*. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 239. 
