English
feature
Feature comes from Old French faiture ‘action; manner’, from Latin factūra ‘a making’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do, put’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaciō‘do’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfactus‘done’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfactūra
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400faiture
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400feture
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘form, bodily profile’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596feature
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaciō‘do’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfactus‘done’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfactūra
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400faiture
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400feture
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘form, bodily profile’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596feature
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto II: “all the powres of nature, / Which she by…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do, put, place, set’
do, hot, deal, fair, fan, benefit, fashion, mid, defense, theme, custom, ethnic, sufficient, defence, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, synthetic, theology, doom, defendant, tick, deed, dis, treasury, treasure, ethic, auditorium, auditor, feast, atheist, demi, deem, spade, ethos, atheism, familial, medial, thematic, forfeit, 129 more
through Latin faciō ‘do, make’
face, difficult, perfect, effect, profit, factor, facility, efficient, affect, faculty, affair, sacrifice, infection, facial, deficit, facilitate, faction, efficacy, superficial, manufacture, defect, facade, deficient, counterfeit, infect, facsimile, façade, hacienda, maleficent, aficionado, efficacious, parfait, facies, difficile, beautify, confection, confit, beneficent, refectory, 84 more
through Latin factus ‘done, made, having been done or made’
Today it means
noun One's structure or make-up: form, shape, bodily proportions.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / feature