Feature

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈfiː.t͡ʃə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A distinctive attribute or characteristic that defines or distinguishes something
2. A prominent trait or quality that serves to identify or set apart an object or individual
3. An important element or aspect that contributes to the identity or uniqueness of a person or thing

Etymology: The noun "feature" began as a word for the shape of a face. Its ancestor in Latin, "factura," meant a making or fashioning, the act of constructing something, and it passed through Old French "faiture" before reaching English as "feture" in Middle English. For centuries the English form meant the cast of the countenance or the form of the body, and the sense of a face's contours is still visible in the older phrase "features" for facial traits. The word then drifted from physical form toward any notable part or aspect of a thing. Its sense of a distinctive quality, the trait that sets something apart, grew out of that broader idea of a noticeable element of a whole. "Feature" is a doublet of "facture," a related English word that kept the Latin sense of making, while "feature" took the path through French and developed the meaning of what the made thing looks like.

Synonyms: characteristic, attribute, trait, quality, aspect

Antonyms: flaw, deficiency, imperfection, shortcoming, disadvantage