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Fenianism

The principles, purposes, and methods of the Fenians.

Fenks

The refuse whale blubber, used as a manure, and in the manufacture of Prussian blue.

Fennec

A small, African, foxlike animal (Vulpes zerda) of a pale fawn color, remarkable for the large size of its ears.

Fennel

A perennial plant of the genus F/niculum (F/niculum vulgare), having very finely divided leaves. It is cultivated in gardens for the agreeable aromatic flavor of its seeds.

Fenny

Pertaining to, or inhabiting, a fen; abounding in fens; swampy; boggy.

Fenowed

Corrupted; decayed; moldy. See Vinnewed.

Fenugreek

A plant (trigonella F/num Gr/cum) cultivated for its strong-smelling seeds, which are

Feod

A feud. See 2d Feud.

Feodality

Feudal tenure; the feudal system. See Feudality.

Feoffee

The person to whom a feoffment is made; the person enfeoffed.

Feoffment

The grant of a feud or fee. A gift or conveyance in fee of land or other corporeal hereditaments, accompanied by actual delivery of possession.

Fer-de-lance

A large, venomous serpent (Trigonocephalus lanceolatus-- now Bothrops atrox-->) of Brazil and the West Indies. It is allied to the rattlesnake, but has no rattle.

Feracity

The state of being feracious or fruitful.

Ferae

A group of mammals which formerly included the Carnivora, Insectivora, Marsupialia, and lemurs, but is now often restricted to the Carnivora.

feral

Wild; untamed; ferine; not domesticated; -- said of beasts, birds, and plants.

Feral

Funereal; deadly; fatal; dangerous.

feral child

A child not raised in the company of humans; a child raised by wild animals. Romulus and Remus in Roman mythology were feral children. Authenticated examples of children raised by beasts are rare or nonexistent, though there are stories of children being raised from infancy in isolation from adults, or in the presence of deaf and dumb adults, resulting in an inability to speak human language.

Ferding

A measure of land mentioned in Domesday Book. It is supposed to have consisted of a few acres only.

Feretory

A portable bier or shrine, variously adorned, used for containing relics of saints.

Fergusonite

A mineral of a brownish black color, essentially a tantalo-niobate of yttrium, erbium, and cerium; -- so called after Robert Ferguson.

Feria

A week day, esp. a day which is neither a festival nor a fast.

Ferial

Of or pertaining to holidays.

Feriation

The act of keeping holiday; cessation from work.

Ferier

compar. of Fere, fierce.

Ferine

Wild; untamed; savage; as, lions, tigers, wolves, and bears are ferine beasts. A wild beast; a beast of prey.

Feringee

The name given to Europeans by the Hindus.

Ferity

Wildness; savageness; fierceness.

Ferly

Singular; wonderful; extraordinary. A wonder; a marvel.

Ferme Ferm

Rent for a farm; a farm; also, an abode; a place of residence; as, he let his land to ferm.

Ferment

To undergo fermentation; to be in motion, or to be excited into sensible internal motion, as the constituent particles of an animal or vegetable fluid; to work; to effervesce.

Fermentable

Capable of fermentation; as, cider and other vegetable liquors are fermentable.

Fermentation

The process of undergoing an effervescent change, as by the action of yeast; the transformation of an organic substance into new compounds by the action of a ferment{1}, whether in the form of living organisms or enzymes. It differs in kind according to the nature of the ferment which causes it.

Fermentative

Causing, or having power to cause, fermentation; produced by fermentation; fermenting; as, a fermentative process.

Fermenter

an apparatus for carrying out fermentation by a liquid suspension of microorganisms; a fermentation tank; as, an industrial fermenter.

Fermerere

The officer in a religious house who had the care of the infirmary.

Fermeture

The mechanism for closing the breech of a breech-loading firearm, in artillery consisting principally of the breechblock, obturator, and carrier ring.

fermion

any particle that obeys Fermi-Dirac statistcs and is subject to the Pauli exclusion principle.

fermium

the transuranic element of atomic number 100; symbol Fm. The atomic weight of the most stable isotope, having a half-life of about 80 days, is 257. The first isotope, Fm255 was discovered in 1952 in the debris of a thermonuclear explosion. Other istopes have been produced in nuclear reactors and by decay of other transuranic elements.

Fern

An order of cryptogamous plants, the Filices, which have their fructification on the back of the fronds or leaves. They are usually found in humid soil, sometimes grow epiphytically on trees, and in tropical climates often attain a gigantic size.

ferned

abounding in or covered with ferns.

fernless

devoid of ferns. Opposite of ferned.

fernlike

resembling ferns especially in leaf shape; as, the fernlike shadows of locust leaves.

Fernticle

A freckle on the skin, resembling the seed of fern.

Ferocactus

a genus of nearly globular cacti of Mexico and Southwestern U. S., including some of the barrel cacti.

Ferocious

Fierce; savage; wild; indicating cruelty; ravenous; rapacious; as, ferocious look or features; a ferocious lion.

Ferocity

Savage wildness or fierceness; fury; cruelty; as, ferocity of countenance.

Feroher

A symbol of the solar deity, found on monuments exhumed in Babylon, Nineveh, etc.

Ferrara

A sword bearing the mark of one of the Ferrara family of Italy. These swords were highly esteemed in England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Ferrarese

Pertaining to Ferrara, in Italy. A citizen of Ferrara; collectively, the inhabitants of Ferrara.

Ferraro

Geraldine Anne Ferraro, a United States politician. Born in 1935, she was a congresswoman from New York in the United States Congress from 1978 to 1984, and ran unsuccessfully in 1984 a candidate for Vice President of the United States, with Walter Mondale as the Presidential candidate. She was the first woman to be nominated by a major U. S. political party for the office of Vice President.

Ferreous

Partaking of, made of, or pertaining to, iron; like iron.

Ferret

The iron used for trying the melted glass to see if is fit to work, and for shaping the rings at the mouths of bottles.

Ferret-eye

The spur-winged goose; -- so called from the red circle around the eyes.

Ferretto

Copper sulphide, used to color glass.

Ferriage

The price or fare to be paid for passage at a ferry.

Ferric

Pertaining to, derived from, or containing iron. Specifically (Chem.), denoting those compounds in which iron has a higher valence than in the ferrous compounds; as, ferric oxide; ferric acid.

Ferricyanic

Pertaining to, or derived from, a ferricyanide.

Ferricyanide

One of a complex series of double cyanides of ferric iron and some other base.

Ferro-concrete

Concrete strengthened by a core or foundation skeleton of iron or steel bars, strips, etc. Floors, columns, piles, water pipes, etc., have been successfully made of it. Called also armored concrete steel, and most commonly reenforced concrete.

Ferrocalcite

Limestone containing a large percentage of iron carbonate, and hence turning brown on exposure.

Ferrocyanic

Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, a ferrocyanide.

Ferrocyanide

One of a series of complex double cyanides of ferrous iron and some other base.

Ferrotype

A photographic picture taken on an iron plate by a collodion process; -- familiarly called tintype.

Ferrous

Pertaining to, or derived from, iron; -- especially used of compounds of iron in which the iron has its lower valence of two; as, ferrous sulphate.

Ferruginated

Having the color or properties of the rust of iron.

Ferruginous

Partaking of iron; containing particles of iron.

Ferrugo

A disease of plants caused by fungi, commonly called the rust, from its resemblance to iron rust in color.

Ferrule

A ring or cap of metal put round a cane, tool, handle, or other similar object, to strengthen it, or prevent splitting and wearing.

Ferry

A place where persons or things are carried across a river, arm of the sea, etc., in a ferryboat.

Ferryboat

A vessel for conveying passengers, merchandise, etc., usually across streams, rivers, bays, and other narrow waters.

Ferryman

One who maintains or attends a ferry.

Fertile

Producing fruit or vegetation in abundance; fruitful; able to produce abundantly; prolific; fecund; productive; rich; inventive; as, fertile land or fields; a fertile mind or imagination.

Fertility

The state or quality of being fertile or fruitful; fruitfulness; productiveness; fecundity; richness; abundance of resources; fertile invention; quickness; readiness; as, the fertility of soil, or of imagination.

Fertilize

To make fertile or enrich; to supply with nourishment for plants; to make fruitful or productive; as, to fertilize land, soil, ground, and meadows.

fertilized

united with a male gamete to begin the development of an individual embryo; -- of female gametes.

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