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Webster 1913 Edition

False

False

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Falser
;
sup
erl.
Falsest
.]
[L.
falsus
, p. p. of
fallere
to deceive; cf. OF.
faus
,
fals
, F.
faux
, and AS.
fals
fraud. See
Fail
,
Fall
.]
1.
Uttering falsehood; unveracious; given to deceit; dishnest;
as, a
false
witness
.
2.
Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous; perfidious;
as, a
false
friend, lover, or subject;
false
to promises.
I to myself was
false
, ere thou to me.
Milton.
3.
Not according with truth or reality; not true; fitted or likely to deceive or disappoint;
as, a
false
statement
.
4.
Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive; counterfeit; hypocritical;
as,
false
tears;
false
modesty;
false
colors;
false
jewelry.
False
face must hide what the false heart doth know.
Shakespeare
5.
Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous;
as, a
false
claim; a
false
conclusion; a
false
construction in grammar.
Whose
false
foundation waves have swept away.
Spenser.
6.
Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.
7.
(Mus.)
Not in tune.
False arch
(Arch.)
,
a member having the appearance of an arch, though not of arch construction.
–
False attic
,
an architectural erection above the main cornice, concealing a roof, but not having windows or inclosing rooms.
–
False bearing
,
any bearing which is not directly upon a vertical support; thus, the weight carried by a corbel has a false bearing.
–
False cadence
,
an imperfect or interrupted cadence.
–
False conception
(Med.)
,
an abnormal conception in which a mole, or misshapen fleshy mass, is produced instead of a properly organized fetus.
–
False croup
(Med.)
,
a spasmodic affection of the larynx attended with the symptoms of membranous croup, but unassociated with the deposit of a fibrinous membrane.
–
False door
or
False window
(Arch.)
,
the representation of a door or window, inserted to complete a series of doors or windows or to give symmetry.
–
False fire
,
a combustible carried by vessels of war, chiefly for signaling, but sometimes burned for the purpose of deceiving an enemy; also, a light on shore for decoying a vessel to destruction.
–
False galena
.
See
Blende
.
–
False imprisonment
(Law)
,
the arrest and imprisonment of a person without warrant or cause, or contrary to law; or the unlawful detaining of a person in custody.
–
False keel
(Naut.)
,
the timber below the main keel, used to serve both as a protection and to increase the shio’s lateral resistance.
–
False key
,
a picklock.
–
False leg
.
(Zool.)
See
Proleg
.
–
False membrane
(Med.)
,
the fibrinous deposit formed in croup and diphtheria, and resembling in appearance an animal membrane.
–
False papers
(Naut.)
,
documents carried by a ship giving false representations respecting her cargo, destination, etc., for the purpose of deceiving.
–
False passage
(Surg.)
,
an unnatural passage leading off from a natural canal, such as the urethra, and produced usually by the unskillful introduction of instruments.
–
False personation
(Law)
,
the intentional false assumption of the name and personality of another.
–
False pretenses
(Law)
,
false representations concerning past or present facts and events, for the purpose of defrauding another.
–
False rail
(Naut.)
,
a thin piece of timber placed on top of the head rail to strengthen it.
–
False relation
(Mus.)
,
a progression in harmony, in which a certain note in a chord appears in the next chord prefixed by a flat or sharp.
–
False return
(Law)
,
an untrue return made to a process by the officer to whom it was delivered for execution.
–
False ribs
(Anat.)
,
the asternal rebs, of which there are five pairs in man.
–
False roof
(Arch.)
,
the space between the upper ceiling and the roof.
Oxford Gloss.
–
False token
,
a false mark or other symbol, used for fraudulent purposes.
–
False scorpion
(Zool.)
,
any arachnid of the genus
Chelifer
. See
Book scorpion
.
–
False tack
(Naut.)
,
a coming up into the wind and filling away again on the same tack.
–
False vampire
(Zool.)
,
the
Vampyrus spectrum
of South America, formerly erroneously supposed to have blood-sucking habits; – called also
vampire
, and
ghost vampire
. The genuine blood-sucking bats belong to the genera
Desmodus
and
Diphylla
. See
Vampire
.
–
False window
.
(Arch.)
See
False door
, above.
–
False wing
.
(Zool.)
See
Alula
, and
Bastard wing
, under
Bastard
.
–
False works
(Civil Engin.)
,
construction works to facilitate the erection of the main work, as scaffolding, bridge centering, etc.

False

,
adv.
Not truly; not honestly; falsely.
“You play me false.”
Shak.

False

,
Verb.
T.
[L.
falsare
to falsify, fr.
falsus
: cf. F.
fausser
. See
False
,
Adj.
]
1.
To report falsely; to falsify.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
To betray; to falsify.
[Obs.]
[He] hath his truthe
falsed
in this wise.
Chaucer.
3.
To mislead by want of truth; to deceive.
[Obs.]
In his
falsed
fancy.
Spenser.
4.
To feign; to pretend to make.
[Obs.]
“And falsed oft his blows.”
Spenser.

Webster 1828 Edition

False

FALSE

,
Adj.
[L. falsus, from fallo, to deceive. See Fall and Fail.]
1.
Not true; not conformable to fact; expressing what is contrary to that which exists, is done, said or thought. A false report communicates what is not done or said. A false accusation imputes to a person what he has not done or said. A false witness testifies what is not true. A false opinion is not according to truth or fact. The word is applicable to any subject, physical or moral.
2.
Not well founded; as a false claim.
3.
Not true; not according to the lawful standard; as a false weight or measure.
4.
Substituted for another; succedaneous; supposititious; as a false bottom.
5.
Counterfeit; forged; not genuine; as false coin; a false bill or note.
6.
Not solid or sound; deceiving expectations; as a false foundation
False and slippery ground.
7.
Not agreeable to rule or propriety; as false construction in language.
8.
Not honest or just; not fair; as false play.
9.
Not faithful or loyal; treacherous; perfidious; deceitful. The king's subjects may prove false to him. So we say, a false heart.
10.
Unfaithful; inconstant; as a false friend; a false lover; false to promises and vows.
The husband and wife proved false to each other.
11.
Deceitful; treacherous; betraying secrets.
12.
Counterfeit; not genuine or real; as a false diamond.
13.
Hypocritical; feigned; made or assumed for the purpose of deception; as false tears; false modesty. The man appears in false colors. The advocate gave the subject a false coloring.
False fire, a blue flame, made by the burning of certain combustibles, in a wooden tube; used as a signal during the night.
False imprisonment, the arrest and imprisonment of a person without warrant or cause, or contrary to law; or the unlawful detaining of a person in custody.

FALSE

,
adv.
Not truly; not honestly; falsely.

FALSE

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To violate by failure of veracity; to deceive. Obs.
2.
To defeat; to balk; to evade. Obs.

Definition 2025

false

false

See also: FALSE and falsé

English

Adjective

false ‎(comparative falser, superlative falsest)

  1. Untrue, not factual, factually incorrect.
  2. Based on factually incorrect premises.
    false legislation‎
  3. Spurious, artificial.
    false teeth‎
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter VIII”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
  4. (logic) Of a state in Boolean logic that indicates a negative result.
  5. Uttering falsehood; dishonest or deceitful.
    a false witness‎
  6. Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous.
    a false friend, lover, or subject;  false to promises‎
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      I to myself was false, ere thou to me.
  7. Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous.
    a false conclusion;  a false construction in grammar‎
    • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
      whose false foundation waves have swept away
  8. Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.
  9. (music) Out of tune.

Synonyms

  • lease
  • See also Wikisaurus:false

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

false ‎(comparative more false, superlative most false)

  1. Not truly; not honestly; falsely.
    • Shakespeare
      You play me false.

Noun

false ‎(plural falses)

  1. One of two options on a true-or-false test.
    The student received a failing grade for circling every true and false on her quiz.‎

Anagrams

Italian

Adjective

false f pl

  1. feminine plural of falso

Latin

Noun

false

  1. vocative singular of falsus

References

Spanish

Verb

false

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of falsar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of falsar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of falsar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of falsar.

Etymology

From Middle English false, fals, from Old English fals ‎(“false; counterfeit; fraudulent; wrong; mistaken”), from Latin falsus ‎(“counterfeit, false; falsehood”), perfect passive participle of fallō ‎(“deceive”). Reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman and Old French fals, faus. Compare Scots fals, false, Saterland Frisian falsk, German falsch, Dutch vals, Danish and Swedish falsk; all from Latin falsus. Displaced native Middle English les, lese ‎(“false”), from Old English lēas; See lease, leasing.

For spelling, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in falls, and does not change the vowel (‘a’). Compare else, pulse, convulse.

Pronunciation

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