double-facedadj.
/dʌbəlˈfeɪst/ 1.
a. Having two faces or aspects.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > duality > [adjective] > having two faces or aspects
double-faced1589
bifront1598
bifronted1598
two-faced1659
bipolar1810
bifrontal1876
bifacial1884
double-sided1907
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. C Chaunce is like Ianus double faced.
a1711 T. Ken Preparatives for Death in Wks. (1721) IV. 140 Double-fac'd Death.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. II. 36 Double-faced as these inventions are—wearing one meaning in the apologies of theologians, and quite another to the multitude.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 726/1 Double-faced, a term applied to an architrave, or the like, having two faces.
1927 O. Jespersen Mod. Eng. Gram. III. xi. 215 Some phrases are..double-faced.
1963 F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax Eng. Lang. I. ii. 99 In Old English the number of double-faced or amphibious verbs was far inferior to that of transitive verbs.
Categories »
b. Of a fabric: Finished on both sides, so that either may be used as the right side.
c. Of a gramophone record: having a recording on each side (cf. double-sided adj. (a) at double adj.1 and adv. Compounds 2f(b)).
ΚΠ
1936 Amer. Speech 11 5 The author has made ten double-faced phonograph records.
2. figurative. ‘Facing two ways’; professing different things to different people; insincere.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective] > double-dealing
twifoldc897
doublea1340
twice-sworn1542
ambidexter1549
double-hearteda1555
double-faced1574
doubling1581
double-dealing1587
twi-faced1635
two-faceda1640
ambidextrous1646
double-headed1646
two-hearteda1656
ambidextral1665
twistical1805
twistifying1845
twistified1872
duplicitous1958
1574 A. Gilby tr. Test. Twelue Patriarches sig. Iviv (margin) Double faced men God abhorreth.
1585 Abp. E. Sandys Serm. iii. 53 Deepe dissemblers, double hearted, double tongued, double faced.
1825 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Wks. (1859) I. 63 Those whom he knew to be slippery and double-faced.
Derivatives
double-ˈfacedness n. the quality of being double-faced; duplicity, insincerity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [noun] > double-dealing, duplicity
doublenessc1374
frouncec1374
duplicityc1430
double-heartedness1571
a heart and a heart1583
two hearts1594
ambidextry1611
ambidexterity1755
double-facedness1867
two-facedness1882
double-handedness1883
1867 G. A. Sala From Waterloo to Peninsula II. 116 An element in Spanish statecraft..known as doblez, or doublefacedness.
1887 S. Colvin Keats 79 Of double-facedness or insincerity..Hunt was incapable.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1574