Fidelis, see [Fidus].
Fidelitas, see [Fides].
[Fidere]; Confidere; Fidem habere; Credere; Committere; Permittere. 1. Fidere (πείθειν) means to trust; confidere, to trust firmly, both with reference to strength and assistance; whereas fidem habere, to give credit, and credere, to place belief, namely, with reference to the good intentions of another. Liv. ii. 45. Consules magis non confidere quam non credere suis militibus; the former with reference to their valor, the latter with reference to their fidelity. 2. Fidere, etc., denote trust as a feeling; committere, permittere, as an action; the committens acts in good trust in the power and will of another, whereby he imposes upon him a moral responsibility; to intrust; the permittens acts to get rid of the business himself, whereby he imposes at most only a political or legal responsibility, as to leave (or, give up) to. Cic. Font. 14. Ita ut commissus sit fidei, permissus potestati. Verr. i. 32. v. 14. (v. 259.)
[Fides]; Fidelitas; Fiducia; Confidentia; Audacia; Audentia. 1. Fides and fidelitas mean the fidelity which a man himself observes towards others; fides, in a more general sense, like πίστις, the keeping of one’s word and assurance from conscientiousness, together with the reliance of others upon us as springing from this quality, the credit we possess; fidelitas denotes, in a more special sense, like πιστότης, the faithful adherence to persons to whom we have once devoted ourselves; whereas fiducia and confidentia denote the trust we place in others; fiducia, the laudable trust in things, in which we actually can trust, which is allied to the courage of trusting in ourselves, in opp. to timor; Cic. Div. ii. 31. Plin. Ep. v. 17, like θάρσος; but confidentia denotes a blamable blind trust, particularly in one’s own strength, in opp. to foresight and discretion, and which converts spirit into presumption, like θράσος. 5. Fiducia and confidentia have their foundation in trusting to the prosperous issue of anything; audacia and audentia, in the contempt of danger; audacia sometimes means a laudable boldness, as a word of higher import than fiducia; sometimes a blamable boldness, as a civil term for temeritas, like τόλμα; but audentia is always a laudable spirit of enterprise. Juven. xiii. 108. Quum magna malæ superest audacia causæ, creditur a multis fiducia. Sen. Ep. 87. Quæ bona sunt, fiduciam faciunt, divitiæ audaciam. (v. 256.)
Fides, see [Religio].
Fides, see [Chorda].
Fiducia, see [Fides].
[Fidus]; Fidelis; Infidus; Infidelis; Perfidus; Perfidiosus. 1. Fidus denotes a natural quality, like trustworthy, with relative praise; whereas fidelis denotes a moral characteristic, as faithful, with absolute praise. Liv. xxii. 22. Eo vinculo Hispaniam vir unus solerti magis quam fideli consilio exsolvit. Abellex erat Sagunti, nobilis Hispanus, fidus ante Pœnis. 2. Infidus means unworthy of trust; infidelis, unfaithful; perfidus, treacherous, in particular actions; perfidiosus, full of treachery, with reference to the whole character. (v. 255.)
[Figura]; Forma; Species. Figura (from fingere, φέγγειν,) denotes shape altogether indifferently, in its mathematical relation, as far as it possesses a definite outline, like σχῆμα; whereas forma (φόριμος, φόρημα,) denotes it in an æsthetical relation, as far as it is a visible stamp and copy of an interior substance, to which it corresponds, like μορφή; lastly, species, in its physical relation, as far as it stands opposed to the inner invisible substance, which it covers as a mere outside, like εἶδος. Hence figurare means to shape, that is, to give a definite outline to a formless mass; whereas formare means to form, that is, to give the right shape to an unwrought mass; and lastly, speciem addere means to bedeck any thing, in the old sense of the word, that is, to give to a mass already formed an exterior that shall attract the eye. According to this explanation figura refers exclusively to the outline or lineaments, whilst forma, or at least species, involves color, size, and the like. (iii. 25.)
Fimus, see [Lutum].