features

Definitions

feature traces to Latin factura ('a making, workmanship,' from facere 'make') via Old French faiture/feture. It first meant the 'make' or form of something — especially the form of the face. From facial form it broadened to any distinctive characteristic, then to 'what a product offers.'

Why It Means This

Feature is the same root as fact and factory, but it took the French road: factura ('something made, workmanship') softened into feature. The earliest English sense was a person's 'make' — their build and especially their facial form (we still say 'fine features'). Because a face is the most distinctive thing about a person, 'feature' came to mean any standout trait, and finally the deliberately built-in capabilities of a product.

Common Collocations

• 1.key feature关键特征
• 2.main feature主要特点
• 3.facial features面部特征
• 4.feature film故事片
• 5.new features新功能

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The new phone has several features that competitors lack.

• 2.

  Her delicate facial features made her instantly recognizable.

• 3.

  The documentary features interviews with three former presidents.