Feature

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Feature \Fea"ture\ (?; 135), n. [OE. feture form, shape,
     feature, OF. faiture fashion, make, fr. L. factura a making,
     formation, fr. facere, factum, to make. See {Feat}, {Fact},
     and cf. {Facture}.]
     1. The make, form, or outward appearance of a person; the
        whole turn or style of the body; esp., good appearance.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              What needeth it his feature to descrive? --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Cheated of feature by dissembling nature. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The make, cast, or appearance of the human face, and
        especially of any single part of the face; a lineament.
        (pl.) The face, the countenance.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It is for homely features to keep home. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The cast or structure of anything, or of any part of a
        thing, as of a landscape, a picture, a treaty, or an
        essay; any marked peculiarity or characteristic; as, one
        of the features of the landscape.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And to her service bind each living creature
              Through secret understanding of their feature.
                                                    --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A form; a shape. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              So scented the grim feature, and upturned
              His nostril wide into the murky air.  --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  feature
       n 1: a prominent aspect of something; "the map showed roads and
            other features"; "generosity is one of his best
            characteristics" [syn: {characteristic}]
       2: the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose
          and mouth and chin; "an expression of pleasure crossed his
          features"; "his lineaments were very regular" [syn: {lineament}]
       3: the principal (full-length) film in a program at a movie
          theater; "the feature tonight is `Casablanca'" [syn: {feature
          film}]
       4: a special or prominent article in a newspaper or magazine;
          "they ran a feature on retirement planning" [syn: {feature
          article}]
       5: an article of merchandise that is displayed or advertised
          more than other articles
       v 1: have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous
            chefs in France" [syn: {have}] [ant: {miss}]
       2: wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner; "she was
          sporting a new hat" [syn: {sport}, {boast}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  307 Moby Thesaurus words for "feature":
     3-D, Cinemascope, Cinerama, Technicolor, Western, act, adjunct,
     advertise, affection, air, angle, animated cartoon, appurtenance,
     aroma, article, article of commerce, article of merchandise,
     aspect, attribute, authoritative, badge, be, be a gas, be a hit,
     be into, be strong in, bearing, best part, bill, birthmark,
     black-and-white film, bomb, brand, brow, cachet, call attention to,
     carriage, cartoon, cast, cast of countenance, causerie, character,
     characteristic, chiller, cinema, circumstance, color, color film,
     column, commodity, complexion, component, configuration, confine,
     confined, constituent, contents, countenance, creepie, cut,
     demeanor, descant, detail, dial, differentia, differential,
     discourse, discussion, disquisition, dissertation,
     distinctive feature, documentary, documentary film, dramatize,
     draw, drawing card, drug, earmark, educational film, effect,
     eidolon, element, emphasize, essay, etude, examination, excursus,
     expert, exposition, face, facet, facial appearance, factor, fail,
     fashion, favor, featured, features, figure, film, first approach,
     fixings, flavor, flick, flicker, flop, follow, form, garb, gestalt,
     go in for, guise, gust, hallmark, headline, high point, high spot,
     highlight, homily, horror picture, horse opera, hype, idiocrasy,
     idiosyncrasy, image, imago, impress, impression, index,
     individualism, individuality, ingredient, integrant,
     introductory study, item, keynote, kisser, knowledgeable,
     lead item, leader, leading card, light, likeness, limit, limited,
     lineaments, lines, look, looks, loss leader, lucubration,
     main feature, major in, make a hit, makings, manner, mannerism,
     map, mark, marking, melodramatize, memoir, mien, minor in, mold,
     monograph, morceau, motion picture, motion-picture show, mount,
     movie, moving picture, mug, narrow, nature, newsreel, note, nudie,
     odor, open, open a show, outline, outstanding feature, pan,
     pandect, paper, paragraph, part, part and parcel, participate,
     particular, particularity, peculiarity, perform, phase, phasis,
     phiz, photodrama, photoplay, physiognomy, picture, picture show,
     piece, play up, point, pornographic film, port, posture,
     preliminary study, premiere, presence, present, preview, produce,
     product, prolegomenon, promote, property, publicize, puff up,
     pursue, puss, put on, quality, quirk, reference, regard,
     research paper, respect, restrict, restricted, savor, scenarize,
     screed, seal, seconds, seeming, semblance, set the stage, shape,
     short, side, silent, silent film, simulacrum, singularity, sketch,
     skin flick, slant, smack, sneak preview, spaghetti Western,
     special, special article, specialist, specialistic, speciality,
     specialize, specialize in, specialized, specialty, spotlight,
     stage, stamp, stance, standard article, staple, staple item, star,
     stress, study, style, succeed, survey, taint, talkie,
     talking picture, tang, taste, technical, term paper, theatricalize,
     theme, thesis, thriller, token, total effect, tract, tractate,
     trailer, trait, traits, treatise, treatment, trick, try out, turn,
     twist, underground film, underscore, vendible, view, viewpoint,
     virtue, visage, ware, wise
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  feature n. 1. [common] A good property or behavior (as of a program).
     Whether it was intended or not is immaterial. 2. [common] An intended
     property or behavior (as of a program). Whether it is good or not is
     immaterial (but if bad, it is also a {misfeature}). 3. A surprising
     property or behavior; in particular, one that is purposely inconsistent
     because it works better that way -- such an inconsistency is therefore a
     {feature} and not a {bug}. This kind of feature is sometimes called a
     {miswart}; see that entry for a classic example. 4. A property or
     behavior that is gratuitous or unnecessary, though perhaps also
     impressive or cute. For example, one feature of Common LISP's `format'
     function is the ability to print numbers in two different Roman-numeral
     formats (see {bells whistles and gongs}). 5. A property or behavior that
     was put in to help someone else but that happens to be in your way. 6.
     [common] A bug that has been documented. To call something a feature
     sometimes means the author of the program did not consider the
     particular case, and that the program responded in a way that was
     unexpected but not strictly incorrect. A standard joke is that a bug can
     be turned into a {feature} simply by documenting it (then theoretically
     no one can complain about it because it's in the manual), or even by
     simply declaring it to be good. "That's not a bug, that's a feature!" is
     a common catchphrase. See also {feetch feetch}, {creeping featurism},
     {wart}, {green lightning}.
  
     The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts, and
     miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical exchange
     between two hackers on an airliner:
  
     A: "This seat doesn't recline."
  
     B: "That's not a bug, that's a feature. There is an emergency exit
     door built around the window behind you, and the route has to be kept
     clear."
  
     A: "Oh. Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased the spacing
     between rows here."
  
     B: "Yes. But if they'd increased spacing in only one section it would
     have been a wart -- they would've had to make nonstandard-length ceiling
     panels to fit over the displaced seats."
  
     A: "A miswart, actually. If they increased spacing throughout they'd
     lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin. So unequal
     spacing would actually be the Right Thing."
  
     B: "Indeed."
  
     `Undocumented feature' is a common, allegedly humorous euphemism for a
     {bug}. There's a related joke that is sometimes referred to as the
     "one-question geek test". You say to someone "I saw a Volkswagen Beetle
     today with a vanity license plate that read FEATURE". If he/she laughs,
     he/she is a {geek}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  feature
       
           1. A good property or behaviour (as of a program).
          Whether it was intended or not is immaterial.
       
          2. An intended property or behaviour (as of a program).
          Whether it is good or not is immaterial (but if bad, it is
          also a {misfeature}).
       
          3. A surprising property or behaviour; in particular, one that
          is purposely inconsistent because it works better that way -
          such an inconsistency is therefore a {feature} and not a
          {bug}.  This kind of feature is sometimes called a {miswart}.
       
          4. A property or behaviour that is gratuitous or unnecessary,
          though perhaps also impressive or cute.  For example, one
          feature of {Common LISP}'s "format" function is the ability to
          print numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats (see
          {bells, whistles, and gongs}).
       
          5. A property or behaviour that was put in to help someone
          else but that happens to be in your way.
       
          6. A bug that has been documented.  To call something a
          feature sometimes means the author of the program did not
          consider the particular case, and that the program responded
          in a way that was unexpected but not strictly incorrect.  A
          standard joke is that a bug can be turned into a {feature}
          simply by documenting it (then theoretically no one can
          complain about it because it's in the manual), or even by
          simply declaring it to be good.  "That's not a bug, that's a
          feature!" is a common catch-phrase.  Apparently there is a
          Volkswagen Beetle in San Francisco whose license plate reads
          "FEATURE".
       
          See also {feetch feetch}, {creeping featurism}, {wart}, {green
          lightning}.
       
          The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts and
          miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical
          exchange between two hackers on an airliner:
       
          A: "This seat doesn't recline."
       
          B: "That's not a bug, that's a feature.  There is an emergency
          exit door built around the window behind you, and the route
          has to be kept clear."
       
          A: "Oh.  Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased
          the spacing between rows here."
       
          B: "Yes.  But if they'd increased spacing in only one section
          it would have been a wart - they would've had to make
          nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced
          seats."
       
          A: "A miswart, actually.  If they increased spacing throughout
          they'd lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin.
          So unequal spacing would actually be the Right Thing."
       
          B: "Indeed."
       
          "Undocumented feature" is a common euphemism for a {bug}.
       
          7. An attribute or function of a {class} in {Eiffel}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1995-10-22)