[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

feature \fea"ture\ ?; 135, n. oe. feture form, shape,
   feature, of. faiture fashion, make, fr. l. factura a making,
   formation, fr. facere, factum, to make. see feat, fact,
   and cf. facture.
   1. the make, form, or outward appearance of a person; the
      whole turn or style of the body; esp., good appearance.
      1913 webster

            what needeth it his feature to descrive? --chaucer.
      1913 webster

            cheated of feature by dissembling nature. --shak.
      1913 webster

   2. the make, cast, or appearance of the human face, and
      especially of any single part of the face; a lineament.
      pl. the face, the countenance.
      1913 webster

            it is for homely features to keep home. --milton.
      1913 webster

   3. the cast or structure of anything, or of any part of a
      thing, as of a landscape, a picture, a treaty, or an
      essay; any marked peculiarity or characteristic; as, one
      of the features of the landscape.
      1913 webster

            and to her service bind each living creature
            through secret understanding of their feature.
                                                  --spenser.
      1913 webster

   4. a form; a shape. r.
      1913 webster

            so scented the grim feature, and upturned
            his nostril wide into the murky air.  --milton.
      1913 webster
see also:
feat fact facture 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

feature
     n 1: a prominent aspect of something; "the map showed roads and
          other features"; "generosity is one of his best
          characteristics" syn: characteristic
     2: the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose
        and mouth and chin; "an expression of pleasure crossed his
        features"; "his lineaments were very regular" syn: lineament
     3: the principal full-length film in a program at a movie
        theater; "the feature tonight is `casablanca'" syn: feature
        film
     4: a special or prominent article in a newspaper or magazine;
        "they ran a feature on retirement planning" syn: feature
        article
     5: an article of merchandise that is displayed or advertised
        more than other articles
     v 1: have as a feature; "this restaurant features the most famous
          chefs in france" syn: have ant: miss
     2: wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner; "she was
        sporting a new hat" syn: sport, boast
see also:
characteristic lineament feature film feature article have miss 
sport boast 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

307 moby thesaurus words for "feature":
   3-d, cinemascope, cinerama, technicolor, western, act, adjunct,
   advertise, affection, air, angle, animated cartoon, appurtenance,
   aroma, article, article of commerce, article of merchandise,
   aspect, attribute, authoritative, badge, be, be a gas, be a hit,
   be into, be strong in, bearing, best part, bill, birthmark,
   black-and-white film, bomb, brand, brow, cachet, call attention to,
   carriage, cartoon, cast, cast of countenance, causerie, character,
   characteristic, chiller, cinema, circumstance, color, color film,
   column, commodity, complexion, component, configuration, confine,
   confined, constituent, contents, countenance, creepie, cut,
   demeanor, descant, detail, dial, differentia, differential,
   discourse, discussion, disquisition, dissertation,
   distinctive feature, documentary, documentary film, dramatize,
   draw, drawing card, drug, earmark, educational film, effect,
   eidolon, element, emphasize, essay, etude, examination, excursus,
   expert, exposition, face, facet, facial appearance, factor, fail,
   fashion, favor, featured, features, figure, film, first approach,
   fixings, flavor, flick, flicker, flop, follow, form, garb, gestalt,
   go in for, guise, gust, hallmark, headline, high point, high spot,
   highlight, homily, horror picture, horse opera, hype, idiocrasy,
   idiosyncrasy, image, imago, impress, impression, index,
   individualism, individuality, ingredient, integrant,
   introductory study, item, keynote, kisser, knowledgeable,
   lead item, leader, leading card, light, likeness, limit, limited,
   lineaments, lines, look, looks, loss leader, lucubration,
   main feature, major in, make a hit, makings, manner, mannerism,
   map, mark, marking, melodramatize, memoir, mien, minor in, mold,
   monograph, morceau, motion picture, motion-picture show, mount,
   movie, moving picture, mug, narrow, nature, newsreel, note, nudie,
   odor, open, open a show, outline, outstanding feature, pan,
   pandect, paper, paragraph, part, part and parcel, participate,
   particular, particularity, peculiarity, perform, phase, phasis,
   phiz, photodrama, photoplay, physiognomy, picture, picture show,
   piece, play up, point, pornographic film, port, posture,
   preliminary study, premiere, presence, present, preview, produce,
   product, prolegomenon, promote, property, publicize, puff up,
   pursue, puss, put on, quality, quirk, reference, regard,
   research paper, respect, restrict, restricted, savor, scenarize,
   screed, seal, seconds, seeming, semblance, set the stage, shape,
   short, side, silent, silent film, simulacrum, singularity, sketch,
   skin flick, slant, smack, sneak preview, spaghetti western,
   special, special article, specialist, specialistic, speciality,
   specialize, specialize in, specialized, specialty, spotlight,
   stage, stamp, stance, standard article, staple, staple item, star,
   stress, study, style, succeed, survey, taint, talkie,
   talking picture, tang, taste, technical, term paper, theatricalize,
   theme, thesis, thriller, token, total effect, tract, tractate,
   trailer, trait, traits, treatise, treatment, trick, try out, turn,
   twist, underground film, underscore, vendible, view, viewpoint,
   virtue, visage, ware, wise

[4] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

feature n. 1. common a good property or behavior as of a program.
   whether it was intended or not is immaterial. 2. common an intended
   property or behavior as of a program. whether it is good or not is
   immaterial but if bad, it is also a misfeature. 3. a surprising
   property or behavior; in particular, one that is purposely inconsistent
   because it works better that way -- such an inconsistency is therefore a
   feature and not a bug. this kind of feature is sometimes called a
   miswart; see that entry for a classic example. 4. a property or
   behavior that is gratuitous or unnecessary, though perhaps also
   impressive or cute. for example, one feature of common lisp's `format'
   function is the ability to print numbers in two different roman-numeral
   formats see bells whistles and gongs. 5. a property or behavior that
   was put in to help someone else but that happens to be in your way. 6.
   common a bug that has been documented. to call something a feature
   sometimes means the author of the program did not consider the
   particular case, and that the program responded in a way that was
   unexpected but not strictly incorrect. a standard joke is that a bug can
   be turned into a feature simply by documenting it then theoretically
   no one can complain about it because it's in the manual, or even by
   simply declaring it to be good. "that's not a bug, that's a feature" is
   a common catchphrase. see also feetch feetch, creeping featurism,
   wart, green lightning.

   the relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts, and
   miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical exchange
   between two hackers on an airliner:

   a: "this seat doesn't recline."

   b: "that's not a bug, that's a feature. there is an emergency exit
   door built around the window behind you, and the route has to be kept
   clear."

   a: "oh. then it's a misfeature; they should have increased the spacing
   between rows here."

   b: "yes. but if they'd increased spacing in only one section it would
   have been a wart -- they would've had to make nonstandard-length ceiling
   panels to fit over the displaced seats."

   a: "a miswart, actually. if they increased spacing throughout they'd
   lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin. so unequal
   spacing would actually be the right thing."

   b: "indeed."

   `undocumented feature' is a common, allegedly humorous euphemism for a
   bug. there's a related joke that is sometimes referred to as the
   "one-question geek test". you say to someone "i saw a volkswagen beetle
   today with a vanity license plate that read feature". if he/she laughs,
   he/she is a geek.


see also:
misfeature feature bug miswart bells whistles and gongs feetch feetch 
creeping featurism wart green lightning geek 

[5] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

feature
     
         1. a good property or behaviour as of a program.
        whether it was intended or not is immaterial.
     
        2. an intended property or behaviour as of a program.
        whether it is good or not is immaterial but if bad, it is
        also a misfeature.
     
        3. a surprising property or behaviour; in particular, one that
        is purposely inconsistent because it works better that way -
        such an inconsistency is therefore a feature and not a
        bug.  this kind of feature is sometimes called a miswart.
     
        4. a property or behaviour that is gratuitous or unnecessary,
        though perhaps also impressive or cute.  for example, one
        feature of common lisp's "format" function is the ability to
        print numbers in two different roman-numeral formats see
        bells, whistles, and gongs.
     
        5. a property or behaviour that was put in to help someone
        else but that happens to be in your way.
     
        6. a bug that has been documented.  to call something a
        feature sometimes means the author of the program did not
        consider the particular case, and that the program responded
        in a way that was unexpected but not strictly incorrect.  a
        standard joke is that a bug can be turned into a feature
        simply by documenting it then theoretically no one can
        complain about it because it's in the manual, or even by
        simply declaring it to be good.  "that's not a bug, that's a
        feature" is a common catch-phrase.  apparently there is a
        volkswagen beetle in san francisco whose license plate reads
        "feature".
     
        see also feetch feetch, creeping featurism, wart, green
        lightning.
     
        the relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts and
        miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical
        exchange between two hackers on an airliner:
     
        a: "this seat doesn't recline."
     
        b: "that's not a bug, that's a feature.  there is an emergency
        exit door built around the window behind you, and the route
        has to be kept clear."
     
        a: "oh.  then it's a misfeature; they should have increased
        the spacing between rows here."
     
        b: "yes.  but if they'd increased spacing in only one section
        it would have been a wart - they would've had to make
        nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced
        seats."
     
        a: "a miswart, actually.  if they increased spacing throughout
        they'd lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin.
        so unequal spacing would actually be the right thing."
     
        b: "indeed."
     
        "undocumented feature" is a common euphemism for a bug.
     
        7. an attribute or function of a class in eiffel.
     
        jargon file
     
        1995-10-22
     
     
see also:
misfeature feature bug miswart common lisp bells, whistles, and gongs 
feetch feetch creeping featurism wart green lightning class 
eiffel jargon file 

Feature >> F Words
Feature, definition of term: Feature
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Feature Film >> F Words
Feature Film, definition of term: Feature Film
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