facialadj.n.
/ˈfeɪʃl/, U.S. /ˈfeɪʃ(ə)l/ A. adj.† 1. Theology. Characterized by face-to-face involvement; immediate, open. Only in facial sight, facial vision. Obsolete.
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the world > space > place > presence > [adjective] > in the presence of someone
facial sight1598
1598 T. Bell Hunting Romish Foxe x. 27 The sole..is the cleare and faciall sight of God.
1609 T. Bell Christian Dial. 16 The cleare and faciall vision of God.
1631 Earl of Manchester Contemplatio Mortis 118 Saint Stephen..had a faciall sight of his Sauiour.
a1711 T. Ken Hymnarium 17 in Wks. (1721) II. You in that Beatifick Height, Had of Triunal God a facial Sight.
1714 S. Bury Final Destr. Great Destroyer Ep. Ded. Is there any of you who loved him so well before, that can now envy him the Facial Vision of his dear Redeemer?
1866 E. B. Pusey in Dublin Rev. July 149 This facial vision of God was enjoyed by Mary from the moment of her death.
2.
a. Anatomy. Designating anatomical structures belonging to or supplying the face, as facial artery, facial muscle, etc.facial nerve: see Compounds.
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1746 Med. Ess. & Observ. II. 483 Mr. Weitbrecht gives an accurate description and picture of the frontal, occipital, palpebral, and facial muscles.
1754 Compl. Syst. Blood-vessels & Nerves 25 in tr. B. S. Albinus Explan. Anat. Fig. Human Skeleton The facial vein, climbing upwards on the face.
1842 E. Wilson Anatomist's Vade Mecum (ed. 2) 273 The Facial artery arises a little above the great cornu of the os hyoides.
1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind iv. 68 Biting her lips with an upward contraction of the facial muscles.
1929 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 6 442/1 Anatomically the facial vein has so many branches that freely anastomose with each other and with other veins, that ligation of one or two trunks must have only a very slight effect upon venous circulation.
1992 ENT News May 30/2 The technique is merely an extension of the maxillary swing technique whereby the maxilla is left pedicled on the facial skin, with blood supply via the facial artery.
2003 A. Valdes-Rodriguez Dirty Girls Social Club 59 People have very little control over their facial muscles, which betray our inner thoughts all the time.
b. Of, relating to, or affecting the face.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > [adjective]
facial1794
orifacial1892
orofacial1960
1794 [see facial line n. at Compounds].
1830 Gentleman's Mag. 100 613 He was the reputed natural son of George the Second, and to him..he bore a strong facial resemblance.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. lviii. 226 Facial outline of the North American Indians.
1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xxii. 213 A man of..great facial advantages.
1910 Daily Chron. 9 Apr. 7/5 The marvellous power of facial expression to convey an emotion..is brought home..by the intense interest one feels in these ‘mimed’ plays.
1938 ‘E. Queen’ Devil to Pay iii. 52 I broke out in a nasty facial rash a few months ago—probably an allergy—and I couldn't shave.
1957 V. J. Kehoe Technique Film & T.V. Make-up vi. 83 Facial lifts can be applied to the sagging muscles..instead of just shading them.
1987 V. Glendinning Rebecca West ii. v. 62 She sought relaxation with facial massages.
2001 Child Devel. 72 357/1 The women were asked to practice their facial expressions using a mirror.
2006 Guardian 2 Feb. (Technology section) 2/2 Biometric data, based on facial characteristics such as the distances between the eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
3. Of or belonging to the visible part or surface of something.
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the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surface > [adjective]
superficial?a1425
superficiary1615
peripherial1653
peripherical1690
peripheral1808
peripherous1816
peripheric1818
facial1842
epipolic1874
1842 E. Wilson Anatomist's Vade Mecum (ed. 2) 33 The external or facial surface, forms the anterior part of the bone.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 328 Seeds..with 2 facial furrows.
1916 J. S. Lewis Old Glass & how to collect It ix. 187 Even the facial scratches with which age invariably adorns the bases of all glass vessels are imitated by the modern ‘fake’ merchant.
1994 Daily News Record (U.S.) (Nexis) 12 Jan. 2 Most of the new fabrics have a facial finish, meaning they're either brushed or sanded.
B. n.† 1. = facial angle n. at Compounds. Obsolete. rare.
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a1825 H. Fuseli Lect. x, in J. Knowles Life & Writings H. Fuseli (1831) II. 379 Camper..appears to have ascertained, not only the difference of the faceal [sic] in animals, but that which discriminates nations.
1896 A. H. Keane Ethnology (ed. 2) i. viii. 182 From this table it appears that the facial is never a right angle, so that absolute orthognathism does not exist.
2. Anatomy. The facial nerve.
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the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > specific nerves > [noun] > pairs of cranial nerves > specific cranial nerves
optic sinew?c1425
recurrent nerve1578
optic1615
optic nerve1615
recurrent1615
par vagum1666
fourth nerve1681
accessory nerve1682
chorda tympani1807
abducens1809
hypoglossus1811
pneumogastric1826
pneumogastric nerve1827
hypoglossal nerve1828
facial1834
fifth nerve1836–9
vagus1840
vagal nerve1854
vagus nerve1856
Jacobson's nerve1860
oculomotor1868
trigeminus1875
hypoglossal1876
oculimotor1890
pathetic1890
sixth1899
trigeminal1899
1834 London Med. Gaz. 11 Oct. 44/1 The lesser portion of the facial is situated between the large portion and the acoustic nerve.
1889 Lancet 18 May 987/2 He had seen instances where paralysis of both facials followed this procedure.
1948 A. Brodal Neurol. Anat. vii. 229 Let us turn now to the intermediate nerve, whose composition is more complex than that of the motor facial.
1995 Otolaryngol.–Head & Neck Surg. 112 484/2 Among the motor nerves, the facial is most often involved.
3.
a. Originally U.S. A beauty treatment for the face. Also in extended use.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > preparations for the skin or complexion > treatments
complexioning1656
beauty treatment1882
facial1910
1910 Chicago Tribune 7 Sept. 6/3 Facial... [I]t saves your face, so to speak.
1913 E. Ferber Roast Beef Medium iii. 60 ‘You could stand a facial and a decent scalp massage, Emma,’ observed Mary Cutting.
1934 Southport Visiter 8 Dec. (advt.) J. H...beautician..modern hairdressing..rejuvenating facials.
1959 Observer 15 Mar. 13/5 I don't have facials now: I keep that and massage in reserve for when I get older.
1974 Times 27 Aug. 9/2 All the products Marisa uses in the salon facials can be bought.
2001 N.Y. Mag. 3 Dec. 18/1 The doctor will also offer ‘foot facials’, which she promises leave feet feeling like two little baby behinds.
2008 Irish Independent 28 Nov. 25/3 No deluxe facials or French manicures or Balinese massages which would rack up a bill of over 400 scoots.
b. More generally: something regarded as comparable to facial beauty treatment; a renovation, new look.
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1932 Kansas City (Missouri) Times 26 Apr. 16 The north side of the courthouse clock is peeling... The newspaper suggests a facial.
1961 Time (Atlantic ed.) 6 Jan. 7 The Capitol dome, which has just had a dazzling, million~dollar facial, beamed down on the city.
1991 Sports Illustr. 4 Mar. 56/1 The ragtag Rockets have given reality a facial.
Compounds
facial angle n. [compare French angle faciale (1800)] (in craniometry) any of various angles used to classify the shape or size of the face; esp. (more fully facial angle of Camper) the angle between the facial line and a horizontal line drawn between the nostrils and the ear (as seen from the side).
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1794 T. Cogan tr. P. Camper Wks. i. iii. 40 The angle of the facial line has in nature a maximum and a minimum from 70 to 80 degrees.]
1804 Monthly Rev. Mar. 252 The facial angle of Camper is that which best expresses the proportion of those parts [sc. the cranium and the face].
1886 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 15 277 Applying the method for obtaining the facial angle of Cloquet to two large photographs of the faces in profile.
2002 H. Kunzru Impressionist (2003) 197 Facial angle is fixed at ninety-three degrees, the nose found to be leptorrhine and eyes mesosemic, with a certain upturning at the corners which is announced to be a tell-tale indication of Asiatic origin.
facial disc n. a flattened forward-facing part of the head as characteristic of many owls, often seen as a well-defined radial arrangement of feathers around the eyes.It is now thought likely that the facial disc is involved in focusing sounds on the ears.
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1825 C. L. Bonaparte Amer. Ornithol. I. 73 Our bird belongs to the sub-genus noctua of Savigny, having..the facial disk of slender feathers small and incomplete.
1874 J. G. Wood Out of Doors 281 The Virginian Eared Owl.—The facial disc is brown, edged with black.
1992 Scope Mar. 9/1 Once known as the ‘arctic saw-whet’, the boreal owl is distinguished by a yellow bill and black-edged facial disks.
facial eczema n. Veterinary Medicine a disorder of sheep characterized by liver damage and photosensitivity dermatitis, caused by ingestion of a mycotoxin present in fungal spores; also called yellow bighead.
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1900 Rep. Dept. Agric. 8 July 200 (heading) Acute facial eczema in sheep. This disease, which is manifested by an eruption on the face and ears of lambs, is solely due to dietetic errors.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Oct. 317/1 Adverse weather may temporarily change pasture to a toxic state capable of producing facial eczema in stock.
1990 New Scientist 27 Oct. 42/2 He was interested in ETP compounds because they are known to cause a disease called facial eczema in sheep.
facial hair n. (esp. of a man) hair that grows on the chin, cheeks, or upper lip; (in extended use) a beard or moustache.
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the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun]
bristlea1300
subboscos1579
suberch1592
stubblea1596
whiskerc1600
facial hair1830
face fungus1904
zit1912
five o'clock shadow1937
shrubbery1937
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > moustache
mustachio1551
mustachio beard1566
moustache1585
mustachiosa1593
bigote1622
dibble1631
umbrage1657
whisker1706
lip-wing1825
facial hair1830
mousetail1853
lip-hair1873
lip-thatch1892
hackles1894
mo1894
tash1894
zit1912
mouser1922
stash1940
taz1951
stache1963
mush1967
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > beard
beardeOE
china1400
barba1500
muzzlea1640
facial hair1830
fungus1904
beaver1910
ziff1919
1830 Morning Herald 4 Aug. 7/5 Lycurgus of Sparta—a man whose beard was an apt emblem of his brains—made a law for the growth and propagation of facial hair.
1879 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 18 June 988/1 Allow me..to ask some of your readers..to give the ingredients of a harmless and effectual depilatory for superfluous facial hair.
1923 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. Great Brit. & Ireland 53 481 In five other individuals there was a distinct reddish tinge in the facial hair, though the hair of the head hardly showed it.
1985 G. Roberson et al. Men's Hair viii. 193 If you've been wearing your facial hair for more than a few years, I have a suggestion: shave it off.
2007 Vanity Fair Dec. 234/2 Each has a different style of facial hair—mutton-chops.., a Fu Manchu.., a Tom Selleck.
facial line n. [after Dutch wezenslijn ( P. Camper Verhandeling (1791) I. i. 21)] (in craniometry) a line drawn between the glabella and the anterior surfaces of the incisor teeth.
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1794 T. Cogan tr. P. Camper Wks. i. i. 21 I have prefixed the cranium of the simia caudata, or tailed ape, and of a small orang-outang, in order to demonstrate the importance of the facial line, which is applicable to all animals.
1878 R. T. H. Bartley tr. P. Topinard Anthropol. ii. iii. 291 The corono-facial angle of Gratiolet, formed by the meeting of the plane passing across the coronal suture of both sides and the facial line.
1991 S. J. Gould Bully for Brontosaurus v. xv. 231 Camper then defined the facial angle as the intersection of the horizontal..with the facial line.
facial nerve n. Anatomy the seventh cranial nerve, which emerges at the lower border of the pons and passes through the internal auditory meatus, facial canal, and parotid gland to innervate the muscles of facial expression, and has also a minor sensory portion involved mainly in the sensation of taste.
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1798 A. Bell Anatomia Britannica iii. 29/2 The facial nerve, or portio dura of the seventh pair.
1888 W. R. Gowers Man. Dis. Nerv. Syst. II. 228 Spasm in the muscles supplied by the facial nerve is sometimes termed ‘mimic spasm’, from the semblance of emotional expression which results.
1935 Lancet 26 Jan. 218/1 The deformity which results from paralysis of the facial nerve is so noticeable and so distressing that many attempts have been made to remedy it.
1998 Jrnl. Neurol. Sci. 153 182 Early in infection [with Lyme disease], patients tend to get a lymphocytic meningitis, cranial neuritis (particularly the facial nerves) or a painful radiculitis.
facial recognition n. identification of human faces by means of visible characteristics; spec. computer-aided identification of faces, used esp. for security purposes.
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1891 N.Y. Times 24 Aug. 2/2 Except as pieces of apparel, bits of jewelry, or something apart from facial or bodily recognition may aid in future work at the wreck, the chances are strongly against further identifications.
1988 Financial Post (Canada) (Nexis) 4 July iv. 46 Other police forces have already experimented with facial recognition equipment.
1996 Jrnl. Personality & Social Psychol. 71 874 Four multimethod studies probed the hypothesis..that facial recognition is enhanced by imitation of the faces.
2003 N. D. Evans Business Innovation & Disruptive Technol. vii. 149 Facial recognition by itself can be applied to a wide variety of scenarios such as the identification of known criminals in public spaces.
facial sauna n. (an apparatus used to provide) a steam bath as a beauty treatment for the face.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > preparations for the skin or complexion > sauna
facial sauna1963
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > preparations for the skin or complexion > sauna > device or equipment for
facial sauna1963
1963 Daily Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pa.) 16 Mar. 12/1 A Swiss facial sauna.
1978 P. Roth Professor of Desire 70 Three times a week the bath is followed by her facial sauna... She sits at the counter,..her turbaned head tilted over a bowl of steaming hot water sprinkled with rosemary and camomile and elder flower.
2003 O: Oprah Mag. Oct. 173 (advt.) Our facial saunas steam away impurities, unclog pores and clear sinuses.
facial suture n. (a) Anatomy any of the sutures between the bones constituting the facial skeleton; (b) Palaeontology any of the sutures on the trilobite cephalon along which the parts of the latter separate during moulting.
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1836 Lancet 5 Mar. 918/1 The operator next cut through..the malar bone, at the transverse facial suture, into the spheno-maxillary fissure.
1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. iii. 188 The position of the facial suture..affords characters for distinguishing genera.
1946 H. Woods Palæontol. Invertebr. (ed. 8) 354 Each cheek is usually divided into two portions by a suture (the facial suture..); the inner part—that between the facial suture and the glabella—is termed the fixed cheek.
2005 Seminars in Orthodontics 11 199/2 Growth of the midfacial skeleton occurs mainly at the facial sutures.
facial tissue n. a soft absorbent square of paper used esp. for cleaning the face; a paper handkerchief.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > tissue for cleaning skin, etc.
toilet paper1809
Kleenex1925
face tissue1926
tissue1929
facial tissue1930
1930 H. Rubinstein Art Feminine Beauty xvi. 265 Spread cream over the face, and wipe it off with a bit of clean linen or fine facial tissues.
1953 ‘S. Ransome’ Drag Dark (1954) i. 15 Box of face powder unspilled, facial tissues neatly folded.
1993 Homemaker's Mag. (Toronto) Nov. 110/1 Chrysler's new Neon... Which offers such considerate creature-comfort features as dual cupholders and a cubbyhole for facial tissues.
facial value n. = face value n. at face n. Compounds 2.
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society > trade and finance > money > value of money > [noun] > as amount stated on face of note, coin, or stamp
nominal value1696
face value1851
facial value1859
1859 J. Lednum Hist. Rise Methodism xlvii. 307 Having some of the two hundred millions of continental paper money..worth at that time one fourth, or one fifth of its facial value.
1922 C. W. C. Oman Unfortunate Col. Despard ix. 197 Northumberland did not dare to face the enormous expense which the buying back of the base money, even at a great reduction on its facial value, would bring about.
2002 Jrnl. Banking & Finance (Nexis) 26 We assume that each exposure is measured by the facial value of the loan.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1598