fianc 
fiance, fiancee (fe-on-sa/), . [F., in. and f. 
pp. ot fiancer, betroth: see fiance, v.] An affi- 
anced or betrothed person, male (fiance) or fe- 
male (fiancee). 
fiantt, fiauntt, . [Perversions of fiat, prob. 
intended to reflect the L. fiant, the plur. cor- 
responding to fiat, sing.: see fiat."} Commis- 
sion; fiat. 
Nought sull'crcd he the Ape to give or graunt, 
Hut through his hand must passe the Fiaunt. 
Spenser, Mother Hub. Tale, 1. 1144. 
fiantst (fi'ants), n. [< OF. fians,fiens,fient, fian, 
fien, jiem, "finw, dung, F. dial, fiait = Pr. fern = 
Cat. ferns = Sp. fimo = It. fimo, fimc, < L. fimus, 
dung, dirt. A parallel form appears in OF. fiente, 
F. fiente = Pr. fenta, mod. Pr. fento, fiento = 
C&t.feinpta, < L. as if "fiinita, perhaps an altera- 
tion of L.fimetum, a dunghill: see fimc."} In 
Inintiiii/, the dung of the boar, wolf , fox, marten, 
or badger. 
fiar (fe'ar), n. [Be., prob. another form offeuar, 
<feu, a" fee or feud: see feu, fee 2 , feucft."} 1. 
In Scots law, one to whom any property belongs 
in fee that is, one who has the property in 
reversion as contrasted with life-rent ; the per- 
son in whom the property of an estate is vested, 
burdened with the right of life-rent. 2. pi. In 
Scotland, the prices of the different kinds of 
grain for the current year, as fixed by the sheriff 
of each county and a jury, after the production 
of expert evidence, and the hearing of all par- 
ties interested. This proceeding, which takes place in 
February or March, is called striking the fian; the prices 
thus struck are called fan' prices, and rule in all grain 
contracts where no price had been specified, as well as in 
calculating the money value of such stipends, rents, etc., 
as are properly payable in grain. 
fiaschetta (fyas-ket'tii), .; pi. fiaschette (-te). 
[It., dim. of fiasco, a flask: see flask."] 1. A 
small thin glass bottle generally invested in a 
complete covering of wicker or plaited straw 
or maize-leaves as a protection. 2. A small 
earthenware vessel, generally fantastic in 
shape and decoration. [Bare.] 
fiaschino (fyas-ke'no), n. ; p\. fiaschini (-ne). 
[It., dim. of fiasco, a flask.] An earthenware 
vessel of fantastic form. 
The old Italian fiaschini in the shape of fruit. 
Jour. Archceol. Ass., XII. 100. 
fiasco (fias'ko), n. [It. fiasco, a flask or bottle ; 
far fiasco, make a fiasco, fail. "Inltaly,when 
a singer fails to please, the audience shout ' Ola, 
ola, fiasco,' perhaps in allusion to the bursting 
of a bottle."] 1. A flask ; a bottle. See flask. 
He [Mr. T. A. TroUope] lived in Florence in the days of 
the Grand Duke, . . . when a fiasco of good Chianti could 
be had for a paul. Athenaeum, Nov. 12, 1887, p. 653. 
2. A failure in a musical or dramatic perform- 
ance ; an ignominious failure of any kind ; a 
complete breakdown. 
Owing to the disunion of the Fenians themselves, the 
vigor of the administration, and the treachery of inform- 
ers, the rebellion was a fiasco. 
W. S. Gregg, Irish Hist, for Eng. Readers, p. 169. 
fiat (fi'at), n. and a. [L. fiat, let it be done, 
3d pers. sinf*. subj. pres. of fieri, be done, be- 
come, come into existence, used as pass, of fa- 
cere, make, do: see fact. In the first sense 
there is often an allusion to Gen. i. 3 (Vulgate) : 
"Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux." 
("And God said. Let there be light. And there 
was light.")] I. n. 1. A command that some- 
thing be done; specifically, an absolute and 
efficient command proceeding from, or as if 
from, divine or creative power. 
So that we, except God say 
Another fiat, shall have no more day. 
Donne, The Storm. 
Why did the^o of a God give birth 
To yon fair Sun, and his attendant Earth? 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 35. 
The fiat " Let light be " was the commencement of de- 
velopments, before the earth or other spheres had exis- 
tence. Bibliotheca Sacra, XLIII. 588. 
2. In Eng. law, a short order or warrant of 
some judge for making out and allowing cer- 
tain processes, given by his subscribing the 
words fiat utpetitur, ' let it be done as is asked.' 
Flat In bankruptcy, the lord chancellor's allowance 
of a commission in bankruptcy. 
II. a. Existing as if by absolute divine or 
creative command; having the character or 
power of such a command. [Colloq.] 
The verdict of approval, however, lias usually taken a 
form which implies a certain fiat power in the Convention. 
New Princeton Rev., IV. 176. 
Fiat money. See money. 
fiauncet, n. See fiance. 
fiauntt,''. Seefiant. 
2197 
fib 1 (fib), n. [Of dial, origin ; prob. an abbr. 
form of *fibble or fihle, a weakened form of fa- 
ble, appearing in E. dial, fible-fable, nonsense: 
see fable, .] A lie; specifically, a white lie; 
a venial falsehood, told to save one's self or 
another from embarrassment. 
Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no Jibs. 
Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, iii. 
Destroy his Jib or sophistry in vain ; 
The creature's at his dirty work again. 
Pope, Prol. to Satires, 1. 91. 
She was for the Jib, but not the lie ; at a word, she could 
be disdainful of subterfuges. 
Q. Meredith, The Egoist, xxix. 
fib 1 (fib), v. ; pret. and pp. fibbed, ppr. fibbing. 
[<.fib*, .] I. intrans. To say what is not true ; 
lie, especially in a mild or comparatively inno- 
cent way. 
Cynthia. Idon'tblush, Sir.forl vowldon'tunderstaml. 
Sir Plyant. Pshaw, Pshaw, you fib, you Baggage, you do 
understand, and you shall understand. 
Congreve, Double-Dealer, iv. 3. 
If you have any mark whereby one may know when yon 
fib and when you speak truth, you had best tell it me. 
Arbuthnot. 
II. trans. To tell a fib to ; lie to. [Rare.] 
To fib a man. De Quincey. 
fib 2 (fib), v. ; pret. and pp. fibbed, ppr. fibbing. 
[Origin obscure.] I. trans. To beat or strike, 
especially by delivering a succession of short 
rapid blows. [Slang.] 
I have been taking part in the controversy about "Bell 
and the Dragon," as you will see in the Quarterly, where 
I have fibbed the Edinburgh (as the fancy say) most com- 
pletely. Smithey, Letters (1811), II. 236. 
II. intrans. To deliver a succession of short 
rapid blows. [Slang.] 
fibber (fib'er), n. One who tells fibs or lies. 
Your royal grandsire (trust me, I'm no fibber) 
Was vastly fond of Colley Gibber. 
Wolcot (P. Pindar), p. 137. 
fibbery(fib'er-i),i. [< fib* + -ery."} The act or 
practice of fibbing. [Bare.] 
" Time has not thinned my flowing locks." Now do not 
suspect me of fibbery, or rub your memory till it smarts 
again. The thing is sure enough and the "perche"' is 
they never flowed at all. 
Landor, The Century, XXXV. 520. 
fiber 1 , fibre (fi'ber), n. [= G. Dan. Sw. fiber, 
< F. fibre = Pr. fibra = Sp. hebra, fibra = Pg. 
It. fibra, < L. fibra, a fiber, filament (of plant or 
animal), akin tofimbria!, fibers, threads, fringe 
(> ult. E. fringe), and perhaps tofilum, a thread, 
> ult. E. files and filament.] 1 . A thread or fila- 
ment ; any fine thread-like part of a substance, 
as a single natural filament of wool, cotton, 
silk, or asbestos, one of the slender terminal 
roots of a plant, a drawn-out thread of glass, 
etc. 
Invet'rate habits choke th' unfruitful heart, 
Their fibres penetrate its tenderest part. 
Cowper, Retirement, 1. 42. 
Old Yew which graspest at the atones 
That name the under-lying dead, 
Thy fibres net the dreamless head, 
Thy roots are wrapt about the bones. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, ii. 
2. In a collective sense, a filamentous sub- 
stance; a conglomeration of thread-like tissue, 
such as exists in animals and plants general- 
ly ; more generally, any animal, vegetable, or 
even mineral substance the constituent parts 
of which may be separated into or used to form 
threads for textile fabrics or the like : as, mus- 
cular or vegetable fiber; the fiber of wool; silk, 
cotton, or jute fiber; asbestos fiber. 3. Fig- 
uratively, sinew; strength: as, 'a man of fiber. 
Yet had no fibres in him, nor no force. Chapman. 
4. Material; stuff; quality; character. 
Our friend Mr. Tulliver had a good-natured fibre in him. 
George Eliot, Hill on the Floss, i. 8. 
The stuff of which poets are made, whether finer or not, 
is of very different fiber from that which is used in the 
tough fabric of martyrs. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 295. 
But how are ordinary men, of no specially elevated 
moral fibre, to be carried up to the turning-point where 
Law is superseded by Love? 
F. P. Cobbe, Peak in Darien, p. B2. 
Specifically 5. In anat. an&zool. : (a) Afila- 
ment; a slender thre'ad-like element, as of mus- 
cular or nervous tissue. Most tissues and struc- 
tures of the body are composed of bundles of 
fibers. See cut under muscular, (b) Fibrous 
tissue in general.-Arciform fibers, arcuate fibers, 
collateral fibers, elastic fibers, etc. See the adjectives. 
Fibers Of Cqrti, minute rod like bodies specialized 
from the epithelial lining of the canalis cochlea:, resting 
upon the basilar membrane which separates the canalis 
cochleae from the scala tympani, and forming an essential 
part of the organ of hearing. Also called Cortian fibers. 
Glandular woody fiber. See glandular. Klttul fiber. 
See Caryota. Non-striated fiber, in anat., a muscular 
flbrillar 
filler without transverse striations, in distinction from 
xtriated fibers, which compose the voluntary musck-s ami 
the heart Sharpey's fibers, or perforating nds / 
Sharpey, very tine processes passing through and seeming 
to rivet together several concentric lamina- of bone-tissue 
with transverse striations. Smooth fiber, the non-stri- 
ated fiber of muscles. Striated fiber, in aunt., a muscu- 
lar fiber. See non-ttHaUd jibt-r. Vegetable fibers, the 
narrow elongated cells which characterize the wimdy anil 
bast tissues of plants, giving them strength, toughness, 
and elasticity. Bast or liber fibers, which are found chief!) 
in the bark, are distinguished from wood fibers by being 
usually longer thicker-walled, and tougher. The cells are 
spindle-shaped with pointed ends, and cohere firmly to 
each other by the extremities, forming most of the textile 
fibers in common use. The length of the individual cells 
varies greatly, from less than a millimeter in many plants 
to an inch or two in hemp or flax, and from 3 to 6 or 8 
inches or more in ramie or china-grass fiber. (Seecutunder 
bast.) The so-called fibers of cotton and similar material 
which are found investing seeds are in reality hairs, and 
not proper fiber. Vulcanized fiber, paper, paper-pulp, 
or other preparation of vegetable fiber saturated and coat- 
ed with a metallic chlorid, as tin, calcium, magnesium, or 
aluminium chlorid, with the effect of giving to the mate- 
rial toughness and strength. E. H. Knight. 
fiber 2 (fi'ber), . [NL.. < L. fiber, a beaver, = 
E. beaver*, q. v.] 1. The specific name of the 
beaver, Castor fiber. 2. [cap."} A genus of 
rodents, of the family Murida: and subfamily 
Arvicolina;, of which the type is the muskrat, 
musquash, or ondatra of North America, Fiber 
zibethicus, having a long scaly tail, vertically 
flattened, and large webbed hind feet. See 
muskrat. 
fiber-cross (fi'ber-kr6s), n. Same as cross-hair. 
fibered, fibred (fi'berd), a. \< fiber* + -ed*.] 
Furnished with fibers ; having fibers ; fibrous. 
Monstrous ivy-stems 
Claspt the gray walls with hairy-/i(ired arms. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
fiber-gun (fi'ber-gun), n. A device for disin- 
tegrating vegetable fiber. It consists of a cylinder 
into which flax, hemp, or similar fibers are put, and 
which is then charged with steam, gas, or air under 
great pressure. The cover of the cylinder is suddenly 
taken off and the mass is thrown into a chamber, where 
the fiber is disintegrated by the sudden expansion of the 
fluid. E. H. Knight. 
fiberless, fibreless (fi'b6r-les), a. [< fiber* + 
-less.] Without fiber, in any sense of that 
word. 
What he [one of the " Limp People "J wants is a place 
where he is not obliged to depend on himself, where he has 
to do a fixed amount of work for a fixed amount of salary, 
and where his fiberless plasticity may find a mould ready 
formed, into which it may run without the necessity of 
forging shapes for itself. 
W. Mathews, Getting on in the World, p. 91. 
fiberose (fi'ber-6s), w. [< fiber* + -ose.~\ A name 
given at one time by Fremy to a certain sup- 
posed modification of cellulose. 
fiber-Stitch (fi'ber-stich), n. A stitch used in 
pillow-lace. 
fibra (fi'bra), n. ; pi. fibr<e (-bre). [L. : see 
fiber*.] In anat., a fiber, in general: used in 
a few Latin anatomical phrases : as, fibra! arci- 
formes, the arciform fibers (which see, under 
arciform) ; fibra primitiva, the primitive fiber 
or axis-cylinder of a nerve. 
fibration (fi-bra'shon), n. [< L. fibra, fiber, 
+ -ation."] The formation of fibers, or fibrous 
construction of a part or organ ; fibrillation : 
as, the fibration of the white tissue of the brain ; 
the fibration of minerals. 
fibre, fibred, etc. See fiber*, etc. 
fibriform (fi'bri-fdrm), a. [< L. fibra, fiber, + 
forma, form.] Fibrous in form or structure; 
composed of fibers ; like a fiber or set of fibers. 
fibril (fi'bril), n. [= F. fibrille = Pg. fibrilha 
= It. fibrilla, < NL. fibrilla, q. v.] 1. A small 
fiber; a fibrilla; a filament. Specifically 2. 
In bot. : (a) One of the delicate cottony hairs or 
thread-like growths found upon the young root- 
lets of some plants, (b) A rootlet of a lichen. 
(c) One of the filaments which line the utricles 
of Sphagnum, (d) The stipe of some fungi : in 
this sense disused. Muscular fibril, in anat., one 
of the fine longitudinal threads into which a muscular fiber 
is separable. See cut under muscular. Nerve-fibrils, 
in anat., those fibrils which constitute the axis-cylinder 
fibrilla (fi-bril'a), n.; pi. fibrilla! (-e). [NL., 
dim. of L. fibra, a fiber: see fiber*.] A little 
fiber ; a fibril ; a filament. Specifically (<i) A deli- 
cate thread-like structure developed in the cortical layer 
of many infusorians, as also in the footstalk of Vorticel- 
la, having a rudimentary muscular function, (b) In bat., 
same as fibril. 
fibrillar (fi'bri-lar), a. [< fibrilla + -or.] Of, 
pertaining to, or of the nature of fibrillse or 
fibrils ; filamentous. Also fibrillous. 
He [Dr. Klein] reports that the two [specimens of fibre- 
cartilage] which had been subjected to artificial gastric 
juice were " in that state of digestion in which we find con- 
nective tissue when treated with an acid, . . . the fibrillar 
