3. (Med.) A kind of whitlow; a painful imflammation of the periosteum
of a finger, usually of the last joint.
Syn. -- Criminal; convict; malefactor; culprit.
Fel"on, a. Characteristic of a felon; malignant; fierce; malicious;
cruel; traitorous; disloyal.
Vain shows of love to vail his felon hate.
Pope.
Fe*lo"ni*ous (?), a. Having the quality of felony; malignant;
malicious; villainous; traitorous; perfidious; in a legal sense, done
with intent to commit a crime; as, felonious homicide.
O thievish Night, Why should'st thou, but for some felonious end,
In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars?
Milton.
-- Fe*lo"ni*ous*ly, adv. -- Fe*lo"ni*ous*ness, n.
Fel"o*nous (?), a. [Cf. OF. feloneus. Cf. Felonious.] Wicked;
felonious. [Obs.] Spenser.
Fel"on*ry (?), n. A body of felons; specifically, the convict
population of a penal colony. Howitt.
Fel"on*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) The bittersweet nightshade (Solanum
Dulcamara). See Bittersweet.
Fel"o*ny (?), n.; pl. Felonies (#). [OE. felonie cruelty, OF. felonie,
F. fÈlonie treachery, malice. See Felon, n.] 1. (Feudal Law) An act on
the part of the vassal which cost him his fee by forfeiture. Burrill.
2. (O. Eng. Law) An offense which occasions a total forfeiture either
lands or goods, or both, at the common law, and to which capital or
other punishment may be added, according to the degree of guilt.
3. A heinous crime; especially, a crime punishable by death or
imprisonment.
Forfeiture for crime having been generally abolished in the United
States, the term felony, in American law, has lost this point of
distinction; and its meaning, where not fixed by statute, is somewhat
vague and undefined; generally, however, it is used to denote an
offense of a high grade, punishable either capitally or by a term of
imprisonment. In Massachusetts, by statute, any crime punishable by
death or imprisonment in the state prison, and no other, is a felony;
so in New York. the tendency now is to obliterate the distinction
between felonies and misdemeanors; and this has been done partially in
England, and completely in some of the States of the Union. The
distinction is purely arbitrary, and its entire abolition is only a
question of time.
There is no lawyer who would undertake to tell what a felony is,
otherwise than by enumerating the various kinds of offenses which are
so called. originally, the word felony had a meaning: it denoted all
offenses the penalty of which included forfeiture of goods; but
subsequent acts of Parliament have declared various offenses to be
felonies, without enjoining that penalty, and have taken away the
penalty from others, which continue, nevertheless, to be called
felonies, insomuch that the acts so called have now no property
whatever in common, save that of being unlawful and purnishable. J. S.
Mill.
To compound a felony. See under Compound, v. t.
Fel"site (?), n. [Cf. Feldspar.] (Min.) A finegrained rock, flintlike
in fracture, consisting essentially of orthoclase feldspar with
occasional grains of quartz.
Fel*sit"ic (?), a. relating to, composed of, or containing, felsite.
{ Fel"spar` (?), Fel"spath` (?) }, n. (Min.) See Feldspar.
Fel*spath"ic (?), a. See Feldspathic.
Fel"stone` (?), n. [From G. feldstein, in analogy with E. felspar.]
(Min.) See Felsite.
Felt (?), imp. & p. p. or a. from Feel.
Felt (?), n. [AS. felt; akin to D. vilt, G. filz, and possibly to Gr.
&?; hair or wool wrought into felt, L. pilus hair, pileus a felt cap or
hat.] 1. A cloth or stuff made of matted fibers of wool, or wool and
fur, fulled or wrought into a compact substance by rolling and
pressure, with lees or size, without spinning or weaving.
It were a delicate stratagem to shoe A troop of horse with felt.
Shak.