Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Fashion

Fash′ion

,
Noun.
[OE.
fasoun
,
facioun
, shape, manner, F.
facon
, orig., a making, fr. L.
factio
a making, fr.
facere
to make. See
Fact
,
Feat
, and cf.
Faction
.]
1.
The make or form of anything; the style, shape, appearance, or mode of structure; pattern, model;
as, the
fashion
of the ark, of a coat, of a house, of an altar, etc.
; workmanship; execution.
The
fashion
of his countenance was altered.
Luke ix. 29.
I do not like the
fashion
of your garments.
Shakespeare
2.
The prevailing mode or style, especially of dress; custom or conventional usage in respect of dress, behavior, etiquette, etc.; particularly, the mode or style usual among persons of good breeding;
as, to dress, dance, sing, ride, etc., in the
fashion
.
The innocent diversions in
fashion
.
Locke.
As now existing,
fashion
is a form of social regulation analogous to constitutional government as a form of political regulation.
H. Spencer.
3.
Polite, fashionable, or genteel life; social position; good breeding;
as, men of
fashion
.
4.
Mode of action; method of conduct; manner; custom; sort; way.
“After his sour fashion.”
Shak.
After a fashion
,
to a certain extent; of a sort; sort of.
Fashion piece
(Naut.)
,
one of the timbers which terminate the transom, and define the shape of the stern.
Fashion plate
,
a pictorial design showing the prevailing style or a new style of dress.

Fash′ion

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Fashioned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Fashioning
.]
[Cf. F.
faconner
.]
1.
To form; to give shape or figure to; to mold.
Here the loud hammer
fashions
female toys.
Gay.
Ingenious art . . .
Steps forth to
fashion
and refine the age.
Cowper.
2.
To fit; to adapt; to accommodate; – with to.
Laws ought to be
fashioned
to the manners and conditions of the people.
Spenser.
3.
To make according to the rule prescribed by custom.
Fashioned
plate sells for more than its weight.
Locke.
4.
To forge or counterfeit.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Fashioning needle
(Knitting Machine)
,
a needle used for widening or narrowing the work and thus shaping it.

Webster 1828 Edition


Fashion

FASH'ION

,
Noun.
fash'on. [L. facio, facies.]
1.
The make or form of any thing; the state of any thing with regard to its external appearance; shape; as the fashion of the ark, or of the tabernacle.
Or let me lose the fashion of a man.
The fashion of his countenance was altered. Luke 9.
2.
Form; model to be imitated; pattern.
King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar. 2Kings 16.
3.
The form of a garment; the cut or shape of clothes; as the fashion of a coat or of a bonnet. Hence,
4.
The prevailing mode of dress or ornament. We import fashions from England, as the English often import them from France. What so changeable as fashion!
5.
Manner; sort; way; mode; applied to actions or behavior.
Pluck Casca by the sleeve,
And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you
What hath proceeded.
6.
Custom; prevailing mode or practice. fashion is an inexorable tyrant, and most of the world its willing slaves.
It was the fashion of the age to call every thing in question.
Few enterprises are so hopeless as a contest with fashion.
7.
Genteel life or good breeding; as men of fashion.
8.
Any thing worn. [Not used.]
9.
Genteel company.
10.
Workmanship.

FASH'ION

,
Verb.
T.
fash'on.
1.
To form; to give shape or figure to; to mold.
Here the loud hammer fashions female toys.
Aaron fashioned the calf with a graving tool. Ex. 32.
Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, what makes thou? Is. 14.
2.
To fit; to adapt; to accommodate; with to.
Laws ought to be fashioned to the manners and conditions of the people.
3.
To make according to the rule prescribed by custom.
Fashioned plate sells for more than its weight.
4.
To forge or counterfeit. [Not used.]

Definition 2024


fashion

fashion

English

Alternative forms

Noun

fashion (countable and uncountable, plural fashions)

  1. (countable) A current (constantly changing) trend, favored for frivolous rather than practical, logical, or intellectual reasons.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess:
      The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years.
  2. (uncountable) Popular trends.
    Check out the latest in fashion.
    • John Locke
      the innocent diversions in fashion
    • H. Spencer
      As now existing, fashion is a form of social regulation analogous to constitutional government as a form of political regulation.
  3. (countable) A style or manner in which something is done.
    • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter V
      When it had advanced from the wood, it hopped much after the fashion of a kangaroo, using its hind feet and tail to propel it, and when it stood erect, it sat upon its tail.
    • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:
      It shell-shocked the home crowd, who quickly demanded a response, which came midway through the half and in emphatic fashion.
  4. The make or form of anything; the style, shape, appearance, or mode of structure; pattern, model; workmanship; execution.
    the fashion of the ark, of a coat, of a house, of an altar, etc.
    • Bible, Luke ix. 29
      The fashion of his countenance was altered.
    • Shakespeare
      I do not like the fashion of your garments.
  5. (dated) Polite, fashionable, or genteel life; social position; good breeding.
    men of fashion

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

fashion (third-person singular simple present fashions, present participle fashioning, simple past and past participle fashioned)

  1. To make, build or construct.
    • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IX
      I have three gourds which I fill with water and take back to my cave against the long nights. I have fashioned a spear and a bow and arrow, that I may conserve my ammunition, which is running low.
    • 2005, Plato, Sophist, translation by Lesley Brown, 235b:
      [] a device fashioned by arguments against that kind of prey.
  2. (dated) To make in a standard manner; to work.
    • John Locke
      Fashioned plate sells for more than its weight.
  3. (dated) To fit, adapt, or accommodate to.
    • Spenser
      Laws ought to be fashioned to the manners and conditions of the people.
  4. (obsolete) To forge or counterfeit.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Derived terms

Translations

Trivia

One of three common words containing shion, which are cushion, fashion, and parishioner.[1][2]

References

  1. The Word Circus: A Letter-perfect Book, by Richard Lederer, Dave Morice, 1998, p. 259
  2. Weeds in the Garden of Words: Further Observations on the Tangled History of the English Language, Kate Burridge, 2005, p. 82, p. 184

Chinese

Etymology

Borrowing from English fashion.

Adjective

fashion

  1. (slang) fashionable; trendy

Spanish

Etymology

English

Adjective

fashion (invariable)

  1. fashionable, trendy

Noun

fashion m (plural fashions)

  1. fashion