[f. prec. sb.]
1. trans. To resemble in features; to favour; esp. with reference to family likeness or resemblance. Now chiefly dial.
1755. Johnson, To feature, to resemble in countenance.
1859. Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, V. xxxviii. ‘Ye feature him, on’y ye’re darker.’
1879. Miss Jackson, Shropsh. Word-bk., s.v. ‘Ben faichurs ’is faither, but all the rest favour the mother’s side.’
1881. J. Hawthorne, Fort. Fool, I. xx. She featured her mother’s family more than her father’s.
2. a. To affect, or mould the features of. b. To stand as a feature or distinctive mark upon.
1810. Crabbe, Borough, iv. Fear, hope, dismay … featured every face.
1832. De Quincey, Charlemagne, Wks. XIII. 160. Differences by which they are severally marked and featured.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea (1877), V. i. 85. Knolls and ridges which featured the landscape.
1878–9. S. Lanier, Remonstrance, 3.
| Prim Creed, with categoric point, forbear | |
| To feature me my Lord by rule and line. |
3. To sketch the features of; to outline, picture, portray. Also, To impress the features of upon (something).
1791–1823. D’Israeli, Cur. Lit. (1859), II. 62. The characters cannot be very minutely featured.
1822. Beddoes, Bride’s Tragedy, II. iv.
| And something in the air, out-jetting night, | |
| Converting feeling to itenser vision, | |
| Featured its ghastly self upon my soul | |
| Deeper than sight. |
1864. Reader, 19 March, 351. Which some keen spirits are already featuring to themselves.
Hence Featuring vbl. sb.; in quot. concr.
1865. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., VI. XVI. vii. 202. Documents and more explicit featurings.
