facies

F4A1C3I1E1S1
UK/ˈfeɪ.ʃi.iːz/US/ˈfeɪ.ʃiˌiz/US/ˈfeɪ.ʃiz/

noun

General appearance.

“costive facies”

OriginLatin faciēs ← Proto-Italic *fakjō ← Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti →
Less commonScrabble 11
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Meanings

facies1

nounfacies (countable and uncountable, plural facies)
  1. countableuncountableGeneral appearance.

    The Chilean Amphijubula Schust. (Schuster, 1970a) which has the facies of a small Frullania and agrees with Frullania in leaf insertion and branching, has a nontiered seta with 16 epidermal cell rows surrounding 4 inner rows.

    1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 6
    1 more example

    The insects of these four islands have also a common facies - facts which seem to indicate that some more extensive land has recently disappeared from the area they now occupy, and has supplied them with a few of its peculiar productions.

    1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 106
  2. countableuncountablemedicineFacial features, like an expression or complexion, typical for patients having certain diseases or conditions.

    costive facies

  3. countableuncountablegeographyA body of rock with specified characteristics reflecting its formation, composition, age, and fossil content.

facies2

noun
  1. pluralplural of facie

Origin

facies · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁k-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁kyéti
  4. Proto-Italic*θakjō
  5. Proto-Italic*fakjō
  6. Latinfaciō
  7. Latinfaciēs
  8. Englishfacies

Borrowed from Latin faciēs (“form, configuration, figure; face, visage, countenance”). Doublet of face.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

facies · noun

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Spanish facies
  • faciesTranslations

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with facies

lithofaciesbiofaciesichnofaciesmicrofaciestaphofacies
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Scaife
Cite this entry
APA

facies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facies

MLA

“facies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facies. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “facies,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facies.

Source: facies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.