Feature

Fea´ture

n.	1.	The make, form, or outward appearance of a person; the whole turn or style of the body; esp., good appearance. What needeth it his feature to descrive? - Chaucer. Cheated of feature by dissembling nature. - Shak.
	2.	The make, cast, or appearance of the human face, and especially of any single part of the face; a lineament. (pl.) The face, the countenance. It is for homely features to keep home. - Milton.
	3.	The cast or structure of anything, or of any part of a thing, as of a landscape, a picture, a treaty, or an essay; any marked peculiarity or characteristic; as, one of the features of the landscape. And to her service bind each living creature Through secret understanding of their feature. - Spenser.
	4.	A form; a shape. So scented the grim feature, and upturned His nostril wide into the murky air. - Milton.

Noun	1.	feature - a prominent aspect of something; "the map showed roads and other features"; "generosity is one of his best characteristics" Synonyms: characteristic
	2.	feature - the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin; "an expression of pleasure crossed his features"; "his lineaments were very regular" Synonyms: lineament
	3.	feature - the principal (full-length) film in a program at a movie theater; "the feature tonight is `Casablanca'" Synonyms: feature film
	4.	feature - a special or prominent article in a newspaper or magazine; "they ran a feature on retirement planning" Synonyms: feature article
	5.	feature - an article of merchandise that is displayed or advertised more than other articles
Verb	1.	feature - have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France" Synonyms: have
	2.	feature - wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner; "she was sporting a new hat" Synonyms: sport, boast

(jargon)

feature - 1. A good property or behaviour (as of a program). Whether it was intended or not is immaterial.

2. An intended property or behaviour (as of a program). Whether it is good or not is immaterial (but if bad, it is also a misfeature).

3. A surprising property or behaviour; in particular, one that is purposely inconsistent because it works better that way - such an inconsistency is therefore a feature and not a bug. This kind of feature is sometimes called a miswart.

4. A property or behaviour that is gratuitous or unnecessary, though perhaps also impressive or cute. For example, one feature of Common LISP's "format" function is the ability to print numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats (see bells, whistles, and gongs).

5. A property or behaviour that was put in to help someone else but that happens to be in your way.

6. A bug that has been documented. To call something a feature sometimes means the author of the program did not consider the particular case, and that the program responded in a way that was unexpected but not strictly incorrect. A standard joke is that a bug can be turned into a feature simply by documenting it (then theoretically no one can complain about it because it's in the manual), or even by simply declaring it to be good. "That's not a bug, that's a feature!" is a common catch-phrase. Apparently there is a Volkswagen Beetle in San Francisco whose license plate reads "FEATURE".

See also feetch feetch, creeping featurism, wart, green lightning.

The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts and miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical exchange between two hackers on an airliner:

A: "This seat doesn't recline."

B: "That's not a bug, that's a feature. There is an emergency exit door built around the window behind you, and the route has to be kept clear."

A: "Oh. Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased the spacing between rows here."

B: "Yes. But if they'd increased spacing in only one section it would have been a wart - they would've had to make nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced seats."

A: "A miswart, actually. If they increased spacing throughout they'd lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin. So unequal spacing would actually be the Right Thing."

B: "Indeed."

"Undocumented feature" is a common euphemism for a bug.

7. An attribute or function of a class in Eiffel.

3-D, Cinemascope, Cinerama, Technicolor, Western, act, adjunct, advertise, affection, air, angle, animated cartoon, appurtenance, aroma, article, article of commerce, article of merchandise, aspect, attribute, authoritative, badge, be, be a gas, be a hit, be into, be strong in, bearing, best part, bill, birthmark, black-and-white film, bomb, brand, brow, cachet, call attention to, carriage, cartoon, cast, cast of countenance, causerie, character, chiller, cinema, circumstance, color, color film, column, commodity, complexion, component, configuration, confine, confined, constituent, contents, countenance, creepie, cut, demeanor, descant, detail, dial, differentia, differential, discourse, discussion, disquisition, dissertation, distinctive feature, documentary, documentary film, dramatize, draw, drawing card, drug, earmark, educational film, effect, eidolon, element, emphasize, essay, etude, examination, excursus, expert, exposition, face, facet, facial appearance, factor, fail, fashion, favor, featured, features, figure, film, first approach, fixings, flavor, flick, flicker, flop, follow, form, garb, gestalt, go in for, guise, gust, hallmark, headline, high point, high spot, homily, horror picture, horse opera, hype, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, image, imago, impress, impression, index, individualism, individuality, ingredient, integrant, introductory study, item, keynote, kisser, knowledgeable, lead item, leader, leading card, light, likeness, limit, limited, lineaments, lines, look, looks, loss leader, lucubration, main feature, major in, make a hit, makings, manner, mannerism, map, mark, marking, melodramatize, memoir, mien, minor in, mold, monograph, morceau, motion picture, motion-picture show, mount, movie, moving picture, mug, narrow, nature, newsreel, note, nudie, odor, open, open a show, outline, outstanding feature, pan, pandect, paper, paragraph, part, part and parcel, participate, particular, particularity, peculiarity, perform, phase, phasis, phiz, photodrama, photoplay, physiognomy, picture, picture show, piece, play up, point, pornographic film, port, posture, preliminary study, premiere, presence, present, preview, produce, product, prolegomenon, promote, property, publicize, puff up, pursue, puss, put on, quirk, reference, regard, research paper, respect, restrict, restricted, savor, scenarize, screed, seal, seconds, seeming, semblance, set the stage, shape, short, side, silent, silent film, simulacrum, singularity, sketch, skin flick, slant, smack, sneak preview, spaghetti Western, special, special article, specialist, specialistic, speciality, specialize, specialize in, specialized, specialty, spotlight, stage, stamp, stance, standard article, staple, staple item, star, stress, study, style, succeed, survey, taint, talkie, talking picture, tang, taste, technical, term paper, theatricalize, theme, thesis, thriller, token, total effect, tract, tractate, trailer, traits, treatise, treatment, trick, try out, turn, twist, underground film, underscore, vendible, view, viewpoint, virtue, visage, ware, wise

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