fess

See also: Fess, FESS, and 'fess

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɛs

Etymology 1

Clipping of confess.

Alternative forms

• 'fess

Verb

fess (third-person singular simple present fesses, present participle fessing, simple past and past participle fessed)

1. To confess; to admit.

Derived terms

• fess up

Etymology 2

From Middle English fesse, from Old French fesse, an alteration of faisse, from Latin fascia. Cognate with fajita, fascia, and fascism.

Alternative forms

• fesse, feese

Noun

fess (plural fesses)

2. (heraldry) A horizontal band across the middle of the shield.

   Hypernym: ordinary

   Coordinate terms: bar, barrulet, closet

   • 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, Norton, published 2005, page 294:

     Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral—Hum! Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable.

   • 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 420:

     The space where the arms of Wolsey used to be is being repainted with his own newly granted arms: azure, on a fess between three lions rampant or, a rose gules, barbed vert, between two Cornish choughs proper.

Derived terms

• fess point
• fessways
• fesswise
• per fess

Translations

band

Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can Catalan: faixa (ca) f Czech: břevno (cs) n Dutch: faas (nl) m or f Finnish: hirsi (fi) French: fasce (fr) f Galician: faixa (gl) f German: Balken (de) m (fess), Leiste (de) f (bar) Hungarian: pólya (hu) Italian: fascia (it) f Polish: pas (pl) m Portuguese: faixa (pt) f Romanian: fașă (ro) Spanish: faja (es) f Swedish: bjälke (sv) c

Etymology 3

Adjective

fess

1. (UK dialect) Proud; conceited.
   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 32:

     Y'll be fess enough, my poppet, when th'st know!"

2. (UK dialect) Lively; active; strong.
3. (UK dialect) Of animals, bad-tempered, fierce.

Anagrams

• FSes