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Fess definition

fĕs
fessed fesses
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Frequency:
To admit to something; confess, often used with up:
verb
2
0
A wide horizontal band forming the middle section of an escutcheon.
noun
1
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(heraldry) A horizontal band forming the middle third of a shield.
noun
1
0
To confess; to admit.
verb
0
0
(heraldry) A horizontal band across the middle of the shield.
noun
0
0
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
fess
Plural:
fesses

Origin of fess

  • Middle English fesse from Old French from Latin fascia band

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Short for confess

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Old French fesse, an alteration of faisse, from Latin fascia

    From Wiktionary

  • From confess, by shortening

    From Wiktionary

Fess Sentence Examples

  • At first sight the shield seems to show A fess between three?

  • The 1889 arms orginally had an ermine fess from the arms of the Calthorpe family, Lords of the Manor of Edgbaston.

  • The wavy fess represents the River Calder which, at the time the arms were granted, was the boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire.

  • The blue wave on the white fess represents the River Darent, from which the town of Dartford took its name.

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Also Mentioned In

Words near fess in the Dictionary