Feature Meant a Face Before It Meant Anything Else
A feature is a notable part of something. The word began as the shape of a face, then spread to products, films and newspapers.
A feature is a distinctive part or quality: a feature of a landscape, a feature of a phone, the features of a face. The facial sense came first — the Latin *factura* means a making, and a person's features were how their face had been made. Everything else is borrowed from that.
- A notable part or quality. *The best feature of the house.*
- A part of the face. *Fine features.*
- A full-length film. *A feature film.*
- A long article. *A feature on migration.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | feature | A useful feature. |
| Plural | features | Sharp features. |
| Verb | feature | The film features her. |
| Adjective | featured | A featured artist. |
| Adjective | featureless | A featureless plain. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The app has a search feature.Product language.
- The show features three new singers.The verb means gives a prominent part to.
- It is not a bug, it is a feature.A programmers' joke about defending odd behaviour.
In publishing and film
- Feature film — a full-length film, usually over an hour
- Short — anything under that length
- Feature article — a long piece, not tied to breaking news
- Double feature — two films on one ticket
- Featurette — a short behind-the-scenes film
From Old French *faiture*, form, from Latin *factura*, a making, from *facere*, to make. The word entered English in the fourteenth century meaning the form of the body or face.
What makes a film a feature?
Length. Most definitions set the line at forty minutes or an hour; anything shorter is a short film.
Feature or function?
A function is what something does; a feature is something it offers that is worth mentioning. Marketing lists features, engineers list functions.