faculty

faculty
\ \ [14] If one has a faculty for doing something, one finds it ‘easy’ to do. The word comes, via Old French faculte, from Latin facultās. This was a parallel form to facilitās (source of English facility [15]). Both were derived from Latin faciliseasy’ (whence English facile [15]), an adjective formed from the verb faceredo’. Since facilitās more closely resembled facilis, it retained its connotations of ‘easiness’, whereas by the classical period facultās had more or less lost them, coming to mean ‘capability, power’.
\ \ Cf.FACILE, FACILITY

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Faculty — Fac ul*ty, n.; pl. {Faculties}. [F. facult?, L. facultas, fr. facilis easy (cf. facul easily), fr. fecere to make. See {Fact}, and cf. {Facility}.] 1. Ability to act or perform, whether inborn or cultivated; capacity for any natural function;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Faculty — may refer to:In education: * Faculty (university), a division of a university or the academic staff of a university * A collective name for the teachers in schools in the United StatesIn other uses: * Faculty (instrument), an instrument or… …   Wikipedia

  • faculty — [fak′əl tē] n. pl. faculties [ME & OFr faculte < L facultas < facilis: see FACILE] 1. Obs. the power to do; ability to perform an action 2. any natural or specialized power of a living organism; sense [the faculty of hearing, speech, etc.]… …   English World dictionary

  • faculty — I (ability) noun ableness, adroitness, aptitude, capability, capacity, cleverness, competence, competency, cunning, deftness, dexterity, enablement, endowment, equipment, expertise, expertness, fitness, flair, gift, handiness, knack, know how,… …   Law dictionary

  • faculty — late 14c., ability, means, resources, from O.Fr. faculté (14c.) skill, accomplishment, learning, and directly from L. facultatem (nom. facultas) power, ability, wealth, from *facli tat s, from facilis (see FACILE (Cf. facile)). Academic sense… …   Etymology dictionary

  • faculty — [n1] ability, skill adroitness, aptitude, aptness, bent, capability, capacity, cleverness, dexterity, facility, flair, forte, genius, gift, instinct, intelligence, knack, knowing way around*, leaning, nose*, peculiarity, penchant, pistol*, power …   New thesaurus

  • faculty — ► NOUN (pl. faculties) 1) an inherent mental or physical power. 2) an aptitude or talent. 3) chiefly Brit. a group of university departments concerned with a major division of knowledge. 4) N. Amer. the teaching or research staff of a university… …   English terms dictionary

  • faculty — noun 1 natural ability of the body/mind ADJECTIVE ▪ higher ▪ the evolution of man s higher faculties ▪ cognitive, intellectual, mental, rational ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • faculty — n. division of a university (esp. BE; CE has school) 1) a faculty of education; law; medicine; science teaching staff (esp. AE) 2) on the faculty (she is on the faculty) 3) a college, university; school faculty 4) the standing ( permanent )… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • faculty — 01. An unknown businessperson has donated over $10 million towards the construction of a new medical [faculty] at the university. 02. Our French professor took the entire class to lunch at the [faculty] club. 03. Chocolate was only accepted by… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • faculty — fac|ul|ty [ˈfækəlti] n plural faculties [Date: 1300 1400; : Old French; Origin: faculté, from Latin facultas ability ] 1.) a department or group of related departments within a university faculty of ▪ the Faculty of Law ▪ the Engineering Fac …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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