Faix. An Irishman’s exclamation for “Faith” or “In Faith.”
Fake. To make-believe or cheat. An actor is said to “fake up” an article of costume out of very sorry materials, which at a distance looks like the real thing. A photographer can “fake” a spirit photo by means of two distinct plates. Food also is largely “faked.” The word is derived from “Fakir.”
Fakir. From the Arabic fakhar, poor.
Falcon Square. From an ancient hostelry, “The Castle and Falcon,” hard by in Aldersgate Street.
Falernian. A celebrated wine, extolled by Horace, Virgil, and other Latin authors, prepared from grapes grown in the district of Falernicum.
Fall. An Americanism for autumn, in allusion to the fall of the leaves.
Fallopian Tubes. Said to have been discovered by Gabriel Fallopius, the eminent Italian anatomist of the sixteenth century. They were, however, known to the ancients.
Falls City. Louisville, in the state of Kentucky, because it overlooks the falls of the Ohio River.
Falmouth. A seaport at the mouth of the Fale.
Family Circle. This expression had a literal meaning in the time of the Normans, when the fire occupied the centre of the floor, and the smoke found its vent through a hole in the roof. In Germany and Russia the domestic apartments are economically warmed by an enclosed stove in the centre. Amongst ourselves the phrase “sit round the fire” only conveys a half-truth.