Forms: 1–7 fals, (3 Orm. falls, 4 falsse, 3–4 vals(e), 4–7 falce, (5 fauce, 6 falls, faulse, fawse), 8–9 Sc. fause, 7, 9 dial. fause, -sse, 3– false. [late OE. fals adj. and sb., ad. L. fals-us false (neut. fals-um, used subst. in sense fraud, falsehood), orig. pa. pple. of fallĕre to deceive; cf. ON. fals sb. The adj. is found in OE. only in one doubtful instance (see sense 13); its frequent use begins in the 12th c., and was prob. due to a fresh adoption through the OF. fals, faus (mod.F. faux = Pr. fals, Sp., Pg., It. falso). The continental Teut. langs. adopted the word in an altered form: MHG. valsch, mod.G. falsch (cf. OHG. gifalscôn to falsify), OFris. falsch, Du. valsch, late Icel. (15th c.) falskr, Da., Sw. falsk.
The etymological sense of L. falsus is ‘deceived, mistaken’ (of persons), ‘erroneous’ (of opinions, etc.). The transition to the active sense ‘deceitful’ is shown in phrases like falsa fides ‘breach of trust, faithlessness,’ where the sb. has a subjective and an objective sense. In mod. Eng. the sense ‘mendacious’ is so prominent that the word must often be avoided as discourteous in contexts where the etymological equivalent in other Teut. langs. or in Romanic would be quite unobjectionable. Some of the uses are adopted from Fr., and represent senses that never became English.]
I. Erroneous, wrong.
1. Of opinions, propositions, doctrines, representations: Contrary to what is true, erroneous.
c. 1200. Ormin, 10024. To trowwenn wrang o Godd þurrh þeȝȝe fallse lare.
a. 1225. Juliana, 65. Forlore beo þu reue wið false bileaue.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 250. Falce undirstondinge of þe lawe of Crist.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, III. 982. Were the tydynge sothe or fals.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 267. Summen seien þat a womman mai be cured for to kutte off al þe brest & þat is al fals.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, E v b. Of whiche two sonnes cam first the paynyms and the fals lawe.
1551. T. Wilson, Logike (1580), 3. To define the nature of euerye thing, to diuide, to knitte true argumentes, and vnknit false.
a. 1568. Ascham, Scholem., I. (Arb.), 81. Corrupt maners in liuinge, breede false iudgement in doctrine.
1592. Davies, Immort. Soul, XXXII. lv. (1714), 125.
| How can that be false, which every Tongue | |
| Of every mortal man affirms for true? |
1631–2. High Commission Cases (Camden), 228. This man is to be for his false doctrines … sharply censured.
1652. Culpepper, Eng. Physic., 107. Why should the vulgar so familiarly affirm, that eating Nuts causeth shortness of breath, than which nothing is falser for how can that which strengthens the Lungs cause shortness of breath?
1670. Narborough, Jrnl., in Acc. Sev. Late Voy., I. (1711), 83. The Draughts are false in laying down of this Coast; for they do not make any mention of the several Islands that lie on it.
1695. Dryden, trans. Du Fresnoy’s Art Painting, Preface, p. xxvi. The Persons, and Action of a Farce are all unnatural, and the Manners false, that is, inconsisting with the characters of Mankind.
1725. Watts, Logic, I. iii. § 4. 66. When I see a strait staff appear crooked while it is half under the Water, I say, the Water gives me a false Idea of it.
a. 1797. Mason, Hymn, Wks. 1811, I. 467.
| While impious men, despise the sage decree, | |
| From vain deceit, and false philosophy. |
1831. Brewster, Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton (1855), II. xxiv. 358. False systems of religion have indeed been deduced from the sacred record,—as false systems of the universe have sprung from the study of the book of nature.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 279. It may perhaps correct some false notions.
b. Law. of a judgment or verdict.
1634. Sanderson, Serm., II. 293. In the Courts of Law, and all juridical proceedings: false Bills, false answers, false suggestions, false counsels, false accusations, false pleas, false testimonies, false records, false motions, false verdicts, false judgments.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 34. A writ also of false judgment lies to the courts at Westminster to rehear and review the cause. Ibid., 402. A jury of twelve men gave a false verdict.
c. Arith. False position: the rule also called simply POSITION, q.v.
2. Not according to correct rule or principle; wrong, a. Gram. Now somewhat arch. exc. in False concord, a breach of any of the rules for the ‘agreement’ of words in a sentence; False quantity, an incorrect use of a long for a short vowel or syllable, or vice versâ.
1551. T. Wilson, Logike (1580), 3. A Grammarian is better liked, that speaketh true & good Latine, than he yt speaketh false.
1580. Baret, Alv., F 110. False verses, carmina vitiosa.
1588. Marprel. Epist. (Arb.), 38. I write false Englishe in this sentence.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 450. In the Peoples Construing Booke, the Acts of those above them have alwayes some false Latine in them.
1709–10. Gibson, in Lett Lit. Men (Camden), 237. To … correct the false spellings, &c.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 59, 8 May, ¶ 3. It must have been very pleasant to have seen this Poet avoiding the reprobate letter, as much as another would a false Quantity.
1837. Lockhart, Scott, lx. A false quantity which his [Scott’s] generosity may almost be said to have made classical.
1872. F. Hall (title), Recent Exemplifications of False Philology.
b. Music. Of a note: Not in tune, wrong in pitch. Also, False cadence (see quot. 1888). False fourth, fifth, etc.: a fourth, fifth, etc., when not perfect. False intonation: (a) the production of an unnatural or improper quality of tone; (b) singing or playing out of tune. False relation: the separation of a chromatic semitone between two parts. Also, see quot. 1869. False string: a badly woven string, which produces an uncertain and untrue tone.
1592. Davies, Immort. Soul, XXXII. xvi. (1714), 115.
| We must not blame Apollo, but his lute, | |
| If false Accords from her false Strings be sent. |
1597. T. Morley, Introd. Mus., 72. Shew me now what concord euery note it, & which be the true notes, and which false.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 171. A Lute-string, if it be meerely Vnequall in his Parts, giueth a Harsh and Vntuneable Sound; which Strings we call False, being bigger in one Place than in another.
1674. Playford, Skill Mus., III. 35. The fifth yields a false fourth, and the sixth a false fifth.
1817. Byron, Beppo, xxxii.
| His ‘bravo’ was decisive, for that sound | |
| Hush’d ‘academie,’ sigh’d in silent awe; | |
| The fiddlers trembled as he look’d around, | |
| For fear of some false note’s detected flaw. |
1830. Tennyson, Poems, 102, The Hesperides.
| If ye sing not, if ye make false measure, | |
| We shall lose eternal pleasure, | |
| Worth eternal want of rest. |
1869. Ouseley, A Treatise on Counterpoint, Canon and Fugue, ii. 9. By a false relation is meant the simultaneous, or immediately successive, sounding of a note of the same name, but accidentally altered pitch.
1888. Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms, 66. When the last chord of the phrase is other than the tonic chord and is preceded by that of the dominant, the cadence is said to be interrupted, false or deceptive. Ibid., 164. False or feigned music was that in which notes were altered by the use of accidentals.
c. Drawing.
1715. J. Richardson, Painting, 134. If the Perspective is not just the Drawing of that Composition is false.
d. Law. False imprisonment: the trespass committed against a person by imprisoning him contrary to law.
1386. Rolls Parlt., III. 225/1. The forsaid Nichol’ … destruyed the kynges trewe lyges … bi false emprisonement.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. viii. 127.
1891. Law Times’ Rep., LXIII. 690/2. An action to recover damages for false imprisonment.
e. Her. (See quots.).
1730–6. Bailey (folio), False Arms [in Heraldry] are those wherein the fundamental rules of the art are not observed.
1864. Boutell, Heraldry Hist. & Pop., xii. 81. An Orle is blazoned as a ‘false escutcheon,’ by the early Heralds.
1889. Elvin, Dict. Her., An Annulet [is blazoned] as a False Roundel. A Cross voided, as a False Cross.
f. Of a horse: (see quot.). False gallop: see GALLOP.
1833. Regul. Instr. Cavalry, I. 56. In cantering to the right, a horse leading with the two near legs is ‘false.’
1884. E. L. Anderson, Mod. Horsemanship, vi. 27. If it [the horse] turn to the right when the left legs are taking the advanced steps, it is false in its gallop.
g. Of a card: (see quot.).
1879. ‘Cavendish,’ Card Ess., 163. A card [played] contrary to rule in order to take in the adversary … is technically called a false card.
3. Of a balance, measure: Not truly adjusted, incorrect. Also, Of play: Unfair. Of dice: Loaded so as to fall unfairly. † False point: a stroke of dejeit; a trick.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 27274 (Fairf.).
| Fals weȝt & mette | |
| againe þe lagh in lande is sette. |
c. 1480. J. Watton, Spec. Chr., 30 b. Usyng of fals weghts or mesuring.
a. 1529. Skelton, Dyuers Balettys, Wks. 1843, I. 26.
| Ware yet, I rede you, of Fortunes dowble cast, | |
| For one fals poynt she is wont to kepe in store, | |
| And vnder the fell oft festered is the sore. |
1551. T. Wilson, Logike (1580), 3. Those which plaie with false Dice, & would make other beleve yt thei are true.
1611. Bible, Prov. xx. 23. Diuers waights are an abomination vnto the LORD: and a false ballance is not good.
a. 1631. Donne, Poems (1633), 62, To Sr Henry Wotton.
| Men are spunges, which to poure out, receive, | |
| Who know false play, rather then lose, deceive. |
1634. Sanderson, Sermons, II. 293. False weights, false measures, false thumbs, false lights, false marks, false wares, false oaths, in the markets and shops.
1781. Cowper, Conversation, 22.
| And if it weigh the’ importance of a fly, | |
| The scales are false, or algebra a lie. |
1811. Sporting Mag., XXXIX. Nov., 91/2. Having introduced cards amongst his company, and thereby causing two grooms to lose 15l. by false play.
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. xciii.
| Our senses narrow, and our reason frail, | |
| Life short, and truth a gem which loves the deep, | |
| And all things weigh’d in custom’s falsest scale. |
4. Of shame, pride: Arising from mistaken notions.
1791. Mrs. Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest, i. A false pride had still operated against his interest, and withheld him from honorable retreat while it was yet in his power.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T. (1816), I. viii. 60. He reasoned much with himself upon the nature of true and false shame.
5. False position (F. fausse position): a position which compels a person to act or appear in a manner inconsistent with his real character or aims.
1830. The Quarterly Review, XLII. Jan., 120. It [taking tithes in kind] places them [the clergy] in what the politicians call ‘a false position,’ with respect to the community at large.
6. (To make) a false step (= Fr. faux pas): a misplaced step, a stumble; hence fig. an unwise or improper action; formerly spec. a woman’s lapse from virtue. False start: a wrong start in a race; often transf. and fig.
1700. S. L., trans. C. Fryke’s Voy. E. Ind., 207. As soon as we could come to fasten by her [the Ship’s] side, I went to get up; but unfortunately made a false step, and tumbled down again into the Boat.
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 602.
| False steps but help them to renew the race, | |
| As, after stumbling, jades will mend their pace. |
1756. Nugent, Gr. Tour, I. 114. The Spinhouse, or house of correction for such young women as have made a false step, stands in the middle of this place.
1823. F. Clissold, Ascent of Mont Blanc, 20. A false step might have swept us below into an immense crevasse.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 231, The Republic, II. If he has taken a false step he must be able to retrieve himself.
7. Defective, not firm or solid. a. Farriery. False quarter [= Fr. faux quartier]: (see quots.).
1523. Skelton, Garl. Laurel, 504.
| Some shewid his salfecundight, some shewid his charter, | |
| Some lokyd full smothely, and had a fals quarter. |
1614. Markham, Cheap Husb., I. lv. (1668), 64. Infirmities of hoofs, as false quarters, loose hoofs.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), False Quarter, (among Farriers) is a Rift, Chink or Crack commonly on the in-side, and sometimes on the out-side of a Horse’s Hoof, which is an unsound Quarter, seeming like a piece put in, and not all entire.
1879. J. Law, Farmer’s Vet. Adviser, 379. False quarter … is similar to a sand-crack in appearance but caused by … destruction of the secreting structure at the top of the hoof.
b. Arch.
1728. R. Morris, Ess. Anc. Archit., 87. Look on the Pediment what a false Bearing, or rather what Bearing at all has it?
1876. Gwilt, Archit., Gloss., s.v. Bearing wall or Partition … when [the partition is] built in a transverse direction, or unsupported throughout its whole length, it is said to have a false bearing, or as many false bearings as there are intervals below the wall or partition.
II. Mendacious, deceitful, treacherous.
In senses 8–10 the phr. false as hell was formerly common.
8. Of a statement: Purposely untrue; mendacious. Frequently in To bear († speak) false witness: to testify falsely.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 13. Ne spec þu aȝein þine nexta nane false witnesse.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 40/223. Betere is trewe dede þane fals word.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 26234 (Cott.). Fals wijtnes and trouth breking. Ibid. (c. 1340), 4635 (Trin.). He was prisounde wiþ fals reede.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, I. 593.
| I have and schal, for trew or fals report, | |
| in wronge and right ilovede the al my lyve. |
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 80. To bakbite, and to bosten, and bere fals witnesse.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., V. i. See that no false surmises thou me tell.
1611. Bible, 2 Kings ix. 12. And they said, It is false.
c. 1630. Jackson, Signs Time, Wks. (1673), II. VI. 380. False-witness-bearing, and Coveting their Neighbours Goods, are far more rife amongst us than they were.
1639. Fuller, Holy War, IV. vi. (1647), 177. Afterwards this report was controlled to be false.
1678. Earl of Arran, in Lauderdale Papers (1885), III. lxv. 100. He found all to be false as hell.
1813. Ld. Ellenborough, in Ho. Lords, 22 March. The accusation is as false as hell in every part!
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxiii. She came to hear false witness in her sister’s cause.
1833. Cruse, Eusebius, I. vii. 32. Neither of the gospels has made a false statement.
9. Of a person or his speech: Uttering or expressing what is untrue; mendacious. (In false prophet the sense varies between this and 13 b).
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 68. Þat þe witnesse ne preoue heom ualse.
c. 1325. English Metrical Homilies, 99. Thai … said that Crist was fals prophete.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 3366. Sacrilege, and fals wyttenessyng.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 284. Falce gloseris maken goddis lawe derk. Ibid. (1382), xiii. 22. Fals Cristis and fals prophetis schulen ryse vp.
1543. Joye, Exp. Dan., iii. 32. Dauid … abhorreth soche false accusers.
1560. Bible (Genev.), Mal. iii. 5. I will be a swift witnes agaynst false swearers.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., III. ii. 32.
| I doubt not then, but Innocence shall make | |
| False Accusation blush, and Tyrannie | |
| Tremble at Patience. |
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., II. v. § 5. There may be false Prophets as well as true.
1687. Congreve, Old Bach., IV. iii. My face is a false witness, and deserves to be pilloried.
1822–56. De Quincey, Confess., Wks. 1890, III. 395. O just and righteous Opium! that to the chancery of dreams summonest, for the triumphs of despairing innocence, false witnesses.
10. Of persons, their attributes or actions: Deceitful, treacherous, faithless. Formerly often pleonastically, expressing detestation, with sbs. like traitor, treason (now only arch.). Const. † of to, † unto.
c. 1205. Lay., 31422. Þa rad forð a þan felde falsest alre kinge.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 128. Ase vox is best falsest.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 15. Þah þi fleschliche wil fals beo.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 385. Þys false byssop Ode.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11530 (Cott.). He was traitur, fals in fai.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxvi. 565. Now are deed the sones of foulques of moryllon by theyr false wyt.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxvii. 275. This Angelars was false and a traytoure.
1559. Mirr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk, xix.
| But note the ende, my dedes so wurthy demed | |
| Of Kinge, of Lordes, and Commons altogether, | |
| Wer shortly after treasons false estemed. |
1590. Marlowe, Edw. II., II. iii.
| Never was Plantagenet | |
| False of his word. |
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., IV. iv. 141.
| Though his false finger haue prophan’d the Ring, | |
| Mine shall not doe his Iulia so much wrong. |
1663–72. Wood, Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), I. 471. By perswading and inveighling Dr. Thomas Jones fellow of that house to be false to his trust, and to make a devision there and a devolution among the fellowes for that end.
1676. South, Serm. Worldly Wisdom (1737), I. ix. 349. False as hell, and cruel as the grave.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 105, 10 Dec., ¶ 3. She had been false to his Bed.
1742. Pope, The Dunciad, IV. 93.
| Who false to Phœbus, bow the knee to Baal; | |
| Or impious, preach his Word without a call. |
1794. Song, ‘Stay, my Willie,’ in Burns’ Wks. (1857), IV. 117. When this heart proves fause to thee.
1815. Scott, Guy M., i. ‘Get up, ye fause loon.’
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., IV. 231. He might be false to his country, but not to his flag.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. ii. I banish the false wretch.
† b. transf. Of ground, a foundation, etc.: Treacherous, insecure. Obs.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. xi. 54.
| So downe he fell, as an huge rocky clifft, | |
| Whose false foundacion waves have wash’t away. |
1697. Dryden, Virg. Pastorals, III. 147.
| Graze not too near the Banks, my jolly Sheep, | |
| The Ground is false, the running streams are deep! |
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, liv. 55. The Heart of Man is like a Bog, it looks Fair to the Eye, but when we come to lay any Weight upon ’t, the Ground is False under us.
† 11. False trust: breach of trust [= L. falsa fides, where falsa is merely pple.]. Obs. rare.
1649. Bp. Hall, Cases Consc., I. vii. 71. The money or goods mis-carried, either by robbery or false trust.
12. Of things, indications, appearances: Fallacious, deceptive. Of a medium of vision: That distorts the object looked at; so in † false glass, mirror; spectacles. False color (fig.): cf. COLOUR sb. 2 d, 12, 13.
1531. [See COLOUR sb. 2 d].
1580. Baret, Alv., F 111. A false glasse, speculum mendax.
1605. Bp. Hall, Medit. & Vows, II. § 79. When they wil needs have a sight of their own actions, it showes them a false glasse to looke in.
1641. J. Jackson, True Evang. T., II. 146. The Devill makes us false spectacles, and wee are willing to put them on, till wee misse the bridge and fall into the ditch.
1658. Womock, Exam. Tilenus, A. You seem to magnifie the riches of the divine Grace: but when we come strictly to examine it, ’tis by a false glass.
1734. Pope, Ess. Man, IV. 392.
| For wit’s false mirror held up Nature’s light; | |
| Shew’d erring Pride, whatever is is right. |
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 391. The true import of the evidence is duly weighed, false colours are taken off.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 173. From 1646 to 1660 he [Clarendon] had lived beyond sea, looking on all that passed at home from a great distance, and through a false medium.
1855. Bain, The Senses and the Intellect, II. iii. § 7. So false is the appetite for sleep that it is still a dispute how much the system requires.
† b. False door, postern (= F. fausse porte): a secret door or postern. Obs.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, viii. 190. Yf ye doo assaille the castell, they shall yssue oute at the fauce posternes.
1552. Huloet, Ffalse posterne or backe dore.
1627. R. Ashley, Almansor, 44. King Almansor entered sometimes into this Hospitall by a false doore.
1768. J. Byron, Narr. Patagonia, 226. They have a false door to the alcove, which sometimes is very convenient.
III. Spurious, not genuine.
13. Counterfeit, simulated, sham. a. Of things, esp. of metal, money, jewels: Counterfeit, spurious. Of a document: Forged.
c. 1000. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 183. Paracaraximus, fals pening [Possibly a compound of the sb., like ON. falspeningr).
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 182. False gold vorwurðeð þerinne [fure].
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28394 (Cott.).
| A-mang myn oþer wark vn-lele | |
| Haf i oft forged fals sele. |
1340. Ayenb., 26. Of guod metal hy makeþ uales moneye.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 293. Þou schalt … do awei al medicyns þat ben false.
1558. W. Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 121. The suspition which we gathered of their false charter parties.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., 121. The wreits … can not prove against him, because they are fals.
1649. Bp. Hall, Cases Consc., I. vii. 64. Leud criples that pretend false soares, counterfeit a need that is not, and shelter themselves in a willing Jaile, there living merrily upon their defrauded creditor, whom they might honestly satisfie by a well improved libertie.
1730–6. Bailey (folio), False Diamond, one that is counterfeited with glass.
1856. Ruskin, Mod. Paint., III. IV. iii. § 12, note. An artificial rose is not a ‘false’ rose, it is not a rose at all.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 288. False Papers frequently carried by slavers and smugglers.
1885. Catholic Dict., s.v. False decretals, the collection ostensibly made by Isidorus Mercator, in the middle of the ninth century.
b. Prefixed to personal designations: Pretended, that is not really such; esp. in false god, prophet.
c. 1175. Cott. Hom., 237. Þurh false godes þe ælc þiode ham selfe macede.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 83. Þese ben false cristene.
c. 1250. Meid. Maregrete, iii. He levede on þe false godes.
1382. Wyclif, Baruch vi. 58. It is beter a kyng for to be schewynge … a profitable vesselle … than fals goddis [1560, Bible (Genev.), ibid., Then such false gods].
1552. Huloet, Ffalse messenger … ffalse prophet.
1870. (title) The False Heir and other Choice Stories for the Young.
c. with the name of an author: = ‘Pseudo-.’
1868. Freeman, Norm. Conq. II. 629. The false Ingulf.
d. Of hair, teeth, etc.: Artificially made or adapted.
1591. Percivall, Sp. Dict., Cabelléra, a false heare, or peruke.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 168. Hired women, who for five houres space … howle bitterly, teare their false haire [etc.].
1817. Byron, Beppo, lxvi. One has false curls, another too much paint.
1885. Pall Mall G., 16 April, 3/2. The false teeth are nothing but animal teeth attached to the human teeth by means of small gold plates.
e. False face: a mask.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, ix. His fause-face slipped aside.
1833. M. Scott, Tom Cringle, xi. (1859), 248. A white false-face or mask of a most methodistical expression.
f. False key: a skeleton key, picklock.
1701. Lond. Gaz., No. 3708/3. A false Key, and a Steel, were left by the said Murderers.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 267. False keys, and all other counterfeit means of opening locks.
g. Of attributes or actions: Feigned, counterfeited, spurious.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonnet lxxii.
| O least your true loue may seeme falce in this, | |
| That you for loue speake well of me vntrue, | |
| My name be buried where my body is, | |
| And liue no more to shame nor me, nor you. |
1697. Dryden, Virg. Æneid, II. 197.
| False tears true pity move: the king commands | |
| To loose his fetters, and unbind his hands. |
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 23.
| But as the slightest sketch, of justly trac’d, Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac’d, So by false learning is good sense defac’d. |
h. Law. False action = ‘feigned action’: see FEIGNED. False plea = sham plea.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), False Action = Faint Action.
1848. Wharton, Law Lex., 246/2. False plea.
14. Nav. and Mil. Counterfeited for the purpose of deception; feigned, pretended; as in false attack, lights, ports, signal. Also in phrases (often fig.), † To show false colors, Under false color(s (see COLOUR sb. 6 b); To hang out false colors (see COLOUR sb. 7 d).
c. 1400. Fals colour [see COLOUR sb. 6 b].
1677. Lond. Gaz., No. 1179/2. One towards Mount Azine, which some look upon to be only a false Attack.
1697. Dampier, Voy. (1698), I. 252. Had we enterd the Port upon the false signal we must have been taken or sunk; for we must have past close by the Fort, and could have had no Wind to bring us out, till the Land-wind should rise in the night.
1765–93. Blackstone, Comm. I. (ed. 12), 294. Putting out false lights in order to bring any vessel into danger.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine, Faux sabords, false ports, painted in a ship’s side, to deceive an enemy.
1784. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, 30 Dec. A letter from her [Mrs. Thrale], which seems to shew her gay and happy. I hope it shews not false colours.
1809. Roland, Fencing, 102. These, and various small motions made without longing, are termed false attacks.
1853. Stocqueler, The Military Encyclopædia, 25/2. False attack, a feigned or secondary movement in the arrangements of an assault, intended to divert the attention of an enemy from the real or principal attack.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 288. To sail under false colours … is an allowable stratagem of war.
1874. Morley, Compromise (1886), 172. If men go through society before marriage under false colours, and feign beliefs which they do not hold, they have only themselves to thank for the degradation of having to keep up the imposture afterwards.
b. False fire: † (a) a blank discharge of firearms (obs.); (b) a fire made to deceive an enemy, or as a night-signal.
1633. T. James, Voy., 26. The euening came, and no newes of our Boate: we shot and made false fires; but had no answer: which did much perplex vs, doubting that there had some distaster befalne her, through carelesnesse, and in her we should lose all.
1642. Sir E. Dering, Sp. on Relig., xvi. 86. Good artillery men, though quick at a dry muster, and nimble with false fires, are not immediately compleated into true and full souldiers.
1711. A. Duncan, Mariner’s Chron. (1805), III. 289. Night coming on we lost sight of our consort, and made several false fires, but was not answered.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, viii. (1840), 140. We made false fire with any gun that was uncharged, and they would walk off as soon as they saw the flash.
1805. Nelson, in Nicholas, Disp. (1846), VII. 57. We have found the comfort of blue lights and false fires in the Mediterranean.
1853. Stocqueler, The Military Encyclopædia, 101/2. When an army is about to retire from a position during the night, false fires are lighted in different parts of the encampment to impose upon the enemy’s vigilance.
15. Improperly so called. (Prefixed, like quasi- or pseudo-, to form names of things bearing a deceptive resemblance to those properly denoted by the sb.) a. in various sciences.
1594. False ribbes [see BASTARD a. 5 c].
1741. A. Monro, Anat. Bones (ed. 3), 222. The Five inferior of each Side are the False [Ribs].
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 245. Immediately on quitting the real womb, they creep into the false one.
1776. Seiferth, trans. Gellert’s Metal. Chym., 14. It [Yellow Quartz] is called … after its colour … false topaz.
1807–26. S. Cooper, First Lines Surg. (ed. 5), 247. When all the coats of an artery are wounded, ruptured, or perforated by ulceration, the tumour is called a false aneurism.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 175. This diagonal arrangement of the layers, sometimes called ‘false stratification,’ is not confined to deposits of fine sand and comminuted shells.
1866. Treas. Bot., False bark. That layer on the outside of the stem of an Endogen, which consists of cellular tissue into which fibrous tissue passes obliquely.
1869. J. R. S. Clifford, in Eng. Mech., 24 Dec., 3457. At the sixth [segment] we come to what have been called the ‘false legs’ [of caterpillars].
1881. St. George Jackson Mivart, The Cat, viii. 229. The superior or false vocal cords—called also the superior thyro-arytenoid ligaments—are folds of membranes which pass (one on each side) from the anterior aspect of the arytenoid cartilages downwards and forwards to the mucous membrane of the middle of the posterior (dorsal) surface of the epiglottis and thyroid.
1890. G. H. Williams, Crystallography, 212. False planes, apparent crystal faces, whose position is not that of true crystal planes, may be produced by oscillatory combination.
b. in popular or literary names of plants (sometimes rendering mod.L. names formed with pseudo-).
1578. False Rewbarbes [see BASTARD a. 5 b].
1597. Gerard, Herball, Index, False Mercurie.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., VI. 50. False Brome-grass.
1861. Chambers’ Encycl., s.v. Bottle-gourd, The common bottle-gourd, or false calabash, is a native of India. Ibid., s.v. Locust Tree, The locust-tree of America is also called the false acacia, or thorn acacia.
1878–86. Britten & Holland, Plant-n. False Parsley.
† c. False nail: ? = AGNAIL 3. Obs.
1818. Art Preserv. Feet, 235. False nails, as they are called, arise from a due want of attention to the parts surrounding the nail.
d. Phys. False conception: a spurious conception, in which a shapeless mass is produced instead of a fœtus.
1662. R. Mathew, Unl. Alch., § 87, 121. It set this woman a purging, and gave her above twenty stools, and then brought from her an abortive or false conception, whereat she was well.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 438.
| But boring to the West, and hov’ring there, | |
| With gaping Mouths, they draw prolific Air: | |
| With which impregnate, from their Groins they shed | |
| A slimy Juice, by false Conception bred. |
1889. Wagstaffe, Mayne’s Med. Voc., 94. False Conception, an imperfect impregnation or blighted ovum.
16. † a. False color: in water-color painting, a lighter tint of any of the recognized colors (obs.). b. False dyes, colors (= Fr. teint faux): fugitive as opposed to permanent dyes.
1573. Art of Limning, 4. Azure or Byze. His false coloure, Two parts azure and one of cereuse. Ibid., 11. Lay … First thy false colours and after thy sadd.
1815. J. Smith, The Panorama of Science and Art, II. 527. Dyes of the second class, or those which require a mordant to fix them, are called false or little dyes.
1842. Bischoff, Woollen Manuf., II. iii. 80. Two branches, namely, that of permanent colours, and that of false or fugitive colours.
17. (Chiefly Mech.) Subsidiary, supplementary; substituted for or serving to supplement the thing properly or chiefly denoted by the name. a. False bottom: a horizontal partition in a vessel. Also in Mining and Metallurgy (see quot. 1881).
1596. Harington, Metam. Ajax (1814), 117. You shall make a false bottom to that privy that you are annoyed with, either of lead, or stone.
1626. Bacon, Sylva (1627), v. 127. Take a Vessel, and … make a false Bottom of course Canvasse.
1641. French, Distill., i. (1651), 5. A false bottom where the Quick-silver must lye.
1823. J. Badcock, Dom. Amusem., 146. Each vat is to have a false bottom, made with cross bars, or stout wicker work.
1881. D. C. Davies, Metall. Min. & Mining, 13. False Bottom … a loose plate put into the stamp box; a floor of iron placed in a puddling machine; a bed of drift holding auriferous drift, and overlying the bed of the latter that usually lies on the bed rock.
b. Shipbuilding. Of things temporarily attached to the real or true part to assist or protect it, as in false keel, keelson, post, rail, stay, stem, stern, stern-post. Also in False deck, a grating or the like supported above the main deck by the ‘close fights.’
1626. Capt. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 14. A grating, netting or false decke for your close fights. Ibid. (1627), Seaman’s Gram., xi. 53. Another keele vnder the first … wee call a false Keele. Ibid. Fix another Stem before it [the stem], and that is called a false Stem.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4521/2. Having our … Back-stays cut to pieces; as also our Main and False-stay.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), C iv b. The false post … serves to augment the breadth of the stern-post.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 117. False keel. Ibid., False rail, a rail fayed down upon the upper side of the main, or upper rail of the head.
1860. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk. False kelson or Kelson Rider.
c. Gunmaking.
1875. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Sports, I. I. xi. § 2. 33. The snap is easily adjusted when worn, and, excepting that the false-breech is cut away more than I like it, has my warm commendation.
1880. Encycl. Brit., XI. 280/1. A pair of barrels open at the breech, playing on a hinge and abutting against a false breech.
1881. Greener, Gun, 262. A false pin is screwed into the lever, which, when removed, will leave an aperture through which the breech-pin must be extracted.
d. Civil Engineering.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., I. 824/2. False-works … construction works to enable the erection of the main works.
e. Arch. in False pillar, roof (see quots.).
1552. Huloet, Ffalse roufe of a chambre, house, seller, or vault.
1611. W. Perkins, Cases Consc. (1619), 143. The other which was most outward, and lesse weightie might be vpholden by lesser proppes, which Artificers in that kind call by the name of false-pillars.
1849–50. Weale, Dict. Terms, False roof, the space between the ceiling and the roof above it.
1874. Micklethwaite, Modern Parish Churches, 213. The main pipes should also be [in] the false roof, which should be of sufficient size, easily accessible, and not dark.
B. adv.
† 1. Untruly. With to speak, swear. Obs. or arch.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 775.
| Ȝyf þou euere swore by oure lady | |
| Yn any tyme fals or wykkedly. |
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 345. Whanne Petre denyede Crist, and swore fals for a wommans vois.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 298. Þar haue þai fals spoken.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. iv. 136.
| Let him in naught be trusted, | |
| For speaking false in that. |
1621. Lady M. Wroth, Urania, 202. He vow’d, nothing should make him answere false.
2. Improperly, wrongly. Of an arrow’s flight: In the wrong direction; erringly. Of music: Out of tune, incorrectly. Obs. or arch.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., IV. ii. 59. The Musitian … plaies false … So false that he grieues my very heart-strings! Ibid. (1596), 1 Hen. IV., I. ii. 74. Thou judgest false already. Ibid. (1608), Per., I. i. 124. If it be true that I interpret false.
1815. Moore, Lalla R. (1824), 139. False flew the shaft, though pointed well.
3. Faithlessly, perfidiously. Chiefly in To play (a person) false: to cheat in play; fig. to betray.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., II. ii. 144. If … thou play false, I doe digest the poison of thy flesh. Ibid. (1593), 2 Hen. VI., III. i. 184. Beshrew the winners, for they play’d me false. Ibid. (1596), Merch. V., I. ii. 48. His mother plaid false with a Smyth.
| Ibid. (1611), Cymb., III. iv. 117. | |
| I have heard I am a Strumpet, and mine eare | |
| Therein false strooke, can take no greater wound. |
1825. A. W. Fonblanque, in Westm. Rev., IV. 402. Sheridan played false to his political friends on this occasion.
a. 1859. Macaulay, Hist. Eng. (1872), V. xxiv. 24. They had their fears that Lewis might be playing false.
C. sb.
† 1. Fraud, falsehood, treachery. In early use esp. counterfeiting (of coin), forgery. Obs.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xliv. 7. Hwi tihþ ure hlaford us swa micles falses?
a. 1016. Laws of Æthelred, vi. § 32. Þæt an mynet gauge ofer ealle þas þeode buton ælcon false.
1154. O. E. Chron., an. 1124. Hi hafden fordon eall þæn land mid here micele fals.
c. 1200. Ormin, 7334. Crist forrwerrpeþþ falls & flærd.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 19253 (Edin.).
| ‘Þu leies,’ he saide, ‘and aȝte haue wand | |
| Wiþ fals þe hali gaste to fand.’ |
a. 1375. Joseph Arim., 208. Wiþ-outen faute oþer faus.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 8109. Now art þou trewly hor traitour, & tainted for fals!
2. One who or that which is false. † a. ellipt. for ‘false person.’ Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4412 (Cott.). Ioseph … þat suikeful fals, þat fole lichour. Ibid. (c. 1340), 17473 (Trin.). Alle false shul fare on þat wise.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 12355. Eneas … wold haue dungyn hym to deth, & deiret þe fals.
† b. What is false; falsehood. Obs. exc. as absol. use of the adj.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 345. Men moten … take ofte fals as bileve.
a. 1592. Greene, Jas. IV. (1861), 213. Such reports more false than truth contain.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., II. iv. 170. My false, ore-weighs your true.
a. 1680. Butler, Rem. (1759), I. 224.
| Whose Science, like a Jugler’s Box and Balls, | |
| Conveys, and counterchanges true and false. |
1812. Sir H. Davy, Chem. Philos., 13. Truths … were blended with the false.
c. Something that is false; untruth; false appearance. Obs. exc. arch.
1584. T. Bastard, Chrestoleros, xxv. 16.
| He which put a false vpon thy face, | |
| Hath done that ill, which was done well before, | |
| Thus he hath put thy picture in thy place, | |
| Making thee like thy selfe, thy selfe no more. |
1786. trans. Swedenborg’s Chr. Relig., § 273. His Understanding is full of Falses.
1884. Tennyson, Becket, III. iii. Earth’s falses are heaven’s truths.
† 3. Fencing. = FEINT. Obs.
1637. Nabbes, Microcosm., in Dodsley, O. Plays, IX. 122. Mar’s fencing-school; where I learn’d a mystery that consists in … thrusts, falses, doubles.
D. Comb.
1. Of the adj.: a. With agent-nouns forming sbs., as false-buller, -coiner; † false writer, (a) one who writes incorrectly; (b) a forger.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 29306 (Cott.). Fals bullers [see FALSE v. 1].
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 148. False wryter, plastographus.
1580. Baret, Alv., F 109. A false writer … mendosus scriptor. Ibid., A false coiner, adulterator monetæ.
b. With pa. pples., forming adjs. chiefly parasynthetic, as false-biased, -bottomed, -eyed, -faced, -faithed, -fingered, -fronted, -grounded, -hearted (whence false-heartedness), -necked, -principled, -visored.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 450. For our Equalls, what they say or do … what is good, we make Casuall, or *false Byassed.
1654. H. L’Estrange, Chas. I. (1655), 25. You have … upon *false-bottom’d suggestions endeavoured to distain his [the king’s] Own and Fathers honour.
1645. Quarles, Sol. Recant., 55. Then banish *fals-ey’d mirth.
1607. Shaks., Cor., I. ix. 44.
| Let Courts and Cities be | |
| Made all of false-fac’d soothing. |
1601. R. Chester, Love’s Martyr, cv. (1878), 70.
| In *false-faith’d Scotland was his bones interd, | |
| To which before King Arthur him prefer’d. |
1648. J. Goodwin, The Youngling Elder, Ess. 4. *Fals-fingered men.
1889. A. R. Hope, Sister Mary, in Boy’s Own Paper, 3 Aug., 697/2. She was still young, this widow—that is, in comparison with the *false-fronted frump whose place she took.
1649. R. Roberts, Clavis Bibliorum, 341. His confutation, of their *false-grounded opinion.
1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps. lv. 21. Ye *falseharted folk bear in their mouth hony dipped in poison.
1685. Baxter, Paraphr. N. T., Matt. xii. 39. A false-hearted People that will not be convinced by Miracles.
1847. Emerson, Poems, To Rhea, Wks. (Bohn), I. 402.
| For when love has once departed | |
| From the eyes of the false-hearted. |
1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps. xli. 7. To utter the *falsehartednesse assoone as they come out of the doores.
1889. The Voice (N. Y.), 16 May. The … false heartedness of the temperance Republicans.
1892. The Academy, 24 Sept., 270. *False-necked vases are represented in the tomb of Ramessu III.
1837. Ht. Martineau, Society in America, III. 94. The brand of contempt should be fixed upon any unprincipled *false-principled style of manners, in a community based upon avowed principles.
1563. Foxe, A. & M., 1355/2. The dark and *falseuisured kingdom of Antichrist.
2. Of the adv.: a. With pr. pples., forming adjs., as false-boding, -creeping, -glozing (see GLOZING), -judging, -lying, -persuading, -speaking, -warbling; with vbl. sbs., forming sbs. as false-contracting, -dealing, -enditing, speaking, -promising, -writing.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. iii. 247.
| Hast. *False boding Woman, end thy frantick Curse, | |
| Least to thy harme, thou moue our patience. |
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. III. Furies 746.
| From this foule Fountain, all these poysons rise, | |
| Rapes, Treasons, Murders, Incests, Sodomies, | |
| Blaspheming, Bibbing, Theeving, *False-contracting, | |
| Church-chaffering, Cheating, Bribing, and Exacting. |
1593. Shaks., The Rape of Lucrece, 1517.
| That Jealousie it selfe could not mistrust, | |
| *False creeping Craft, and Perjurie should thrust | |
| Into so bright a daie, such blackfac’d storms, | |
| Or blot with Hell-born sin such Saint-like forms. |
1702. C. Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana, I. ii. (1852), 51. This *false-dealing proved a safe-dealing for the good people against whom it was used.
c. 1480. John Watton, Speculum Christiani, 30 b. *Fals Enditing.
1633. G. Herbert, Temple, Dotage, i. *False glozing pleasures, casks of happinesse.
1686. South, Serm. (1737), II. ix. 347. But now a false glossing Parasite would give him quite another kind of Counsel, and bid him only reckon his ten thousand forty, call his Fool-hardiness Valour, and then he may go on boldly, because blindly, and by mistaking himself for a Lyon, come to perish like an Ass.
1839. Hallam, Hist. Lit., viii. I. § 50. A very *false-judging pedantry.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 70 b. A *falslying good lesse man.
1682. Otway, Venice Preserved, IV. i. 56.
| Murder—Oh!—Hark thee, traitress, thou hast done this! | |
| Thanks to thy tears, and *false perswading love. |
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonnet cxxxviii.
| Thus vainely thinking that she thinkes me young, | |
| Although she knowes my dayes are past the best, | |
| Simply I credit her *false speaking tongue, | |
| On both sides thus is simple truth supprest. |
1884. Bosanquet, trans. Lotze’s Logic, 286. Unfortunately the simpliciter is ambiguous; it may mean that false-speaking is wrong in itself and can be justified only secundum quid, i.e. for special reasons in particular cases.
1728–46. Thomson, Spring, 989.
| And still, *false-warbling in his cheated Ear, | |
| Her syren Voice, enchanting, draws him on, | |
| To guileful Shores, and Meads of fatal Joy. |
b. With pa. pples., forming adjs., as false-derived, -fed, -found, -gotten, -imagined, -persuaded, -pretended, -purchased, -spoken, -sworn, -tinctured, -whited, -termed, -written.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., IV. i. 190. Euery flight, and *false-deriued Cause.
1680. H. More, Apocalypsis Apocalypseos, 69. They shall not be *false-fed nor hunger-starved by deceitful Teachers.
a. 1558. Q. Mary, in Foxe, A. & M. (1684), III. 14. Seditions have been nourished … by printing of *false found books.
1460. in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866), 200.
| Thou wolt neuere restore agayn | |
| *Fals goten good þat þou wiþ mellis. |
c. 1625. Milton, On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough, 72.
| Then thou, the mother of so sweet a child, | |
| Her *false-imagined loss cease to lament, | |
| And wisely learn to curb thy sorrows wild; | |
| Think what a present thou to God hast sent. |
1605. Shaks., Lear, I. iv. 254 (Qo.). I should be *false persuaded I had daughters.
1553. Bale, Gardiner’s De vera Obed., Pref. B v. *False pretended supremacie.
1530. Form Greater Excommun., in Maskell, Mon. Rit., II. 299. All tho ben acursed, that false (forge) the popes letters or is seel, or any other letters or seel that ben autentik, and all tho that them purchase, and all tho that use wytingly suche *false purchased letters.
1843. Carlyle, Past & Pr. (1858), 142. Let all sluggards and cowards, remiss, *false-spoken, unjust, and otherwise diabolic persons have a care: this is a dangerous man for them.
1569. J. Sanford, trans. Agrippa’s Of the Vanitie and Uncertaintie of Artes and Sciences, 2 b. A *falsesworne Marchaunte.
1729. Savage, Wanderer, II. 391.
| That mean are those, who false-term’d Honour prize; | |
| Whose Fabricks, from their Country’s Ruins, rise. |
1706. Watts, Horæ Lyricæ, II. (1808), 169. The cruel shade apply’d … a *false tinctur’d glass.
1641. Milton, Ch. Govt., II. iii. (1851), 173. A *false-whited, a lawnie resemblance of her, like that aire-born Helena in the fables.
1755. Carte, Hist. Eng., IV. 93. Names *false-written as Artherus for Arthurus.
c. With verbs, forming verbs, as false-color, -play, -point, -promise.
1817. Coleridge, Biog. Lit. (1847), II. 170. Genius neither distorts nor *false-colours its objects.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., IV. xiv. 19.
| The Queene … has … false plaid my Glory | |
| Vnto an Enemies triumph. |
1892. Field, 7 May, 695/1. They kept on *false pointing and backing … Ivybridge did little else but false point.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Cup of Consolation, 22.
| On this Side, smiling Hope (with smoothest brow) | |
| *False-promiseth long Peace and plenty too. |
3. Special comb.: † false-back a., ? treacherously retreating; false-bedded a., -bedding Geol. (see quots. 1876, 1887); † false-cup, a kind of drinking cup; † false-heart a. = false-hearted (see Comb. 1); false-muster, an incorrect statement of the number of men in a regiment or a ship’s company; false-nerved a. Bot., having no vascular tissue; † false-winged a. Arch. = pseudo-dipteral.
1633. P. Fletcher, Purple Isl., XI. xlviii. The *false-back Tartars, fear, with cunning feign.
1876. Page, Adv. Text Bk. Geol., v. 91. Sandstones are said to be *false-bedded when their strata are crossed obliquely by numerous laminæ, or layers of deposit.
1884. B. N. Peach & J. Horne, in Nature, 13 Nov., 32/2. The lower zone of false-bedded grits.
1876. Woodward, Geol. (1887), 13. *False-bedding … is a feature produced in shallow water by currents and tidal action, whereby beds are heaped up in irregular layers without any approach to horizontality or continuity.
1877. A. H. Green, Phys. Geol., iv. § 1. 124. False-bedding e.g. Current-, Cross-, or Drift-Bedding.
1708. Motteux, Rabelais, V. xxxiv. (1737), 152. Ewers, *False-Cups, Tumblers.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., V. i. 143. I am thy King, and thou a *false-heart Traitor.
1752. A. Murphy, Gray’s-Inn Journal (1756), I. 116, No. 17. There are besides several Faggots, and *False-musters, which the General thinks proper to connive at.
1866. Treas. Bot., *False-nerved. When veins have no vascular tissue, but are formed of simple elongated cellular tissue; as in mosses, seaweeds, &c.
1715. Leoni, Palladio’s Archit. (1742), II. 20. The aspect of this Temple was the *false-wing’d.
