Fi*dal"go (?), n. [Pg. See Hidalgo.] The lowest title of nobility in
Portugal, corresponding to that of Hidalgo in Spain.
Fid"dle (fd"d'l), n. [OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fiele; akin to D.
vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fila, and perh. to E. viol. Cf.
Viol.] 1. (Mus.) A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a
violin; a kit.
2. (Bot.) A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; --
called also fiddle dock.
3. (Naut.) A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table
furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Fiddle beetle (Zoˆl.), a Japanese carabid beetle (Damaster blaptoides);
-- so called from the form of the body. -- Fiddle block (Naut.), a long
tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same
plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block. Knight. --
Fiddle bow, fiddlestick. -- Fiddle fish (Zoˆl.), the angel fish. --
Fiddle head, an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the volute or
scroll at the head of a violin. -- Fiddle pattern, a form of the
handles of spoons, forks, etc., somewhat like a violin. -- Scotch
fiddle, the itch. (Low) -- To play first, or second, fiddle, to take a
leading or a subordinate part. [Colloq.]
Fid"dle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fiddled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fiddling
(?).] 1. To play on a fiddle.
Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a
small town a great city.
Bacon.
2. To keep the hands and fingers actively moving as a fiddler does; to
move the hands and fingers restlessy or in busy idleness; to trifle.
Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers.
Pepys.
Fid"dle (?), v. t. To play (a tune) on a fiddle.
Fid"dle*dee*dee` (?), interj. An exclamatory word or phrase, equivalent
to nonsense! [Colloq.]
Fid"dle-fad`dle (?), n. A trifle; trifling talk; nonsense. [Colloq.]
Spectator.
Fid"dle-fad`dle, v. i. To talk nonsense. [Colloq.] Ford.
Fid"dler (?), n. [AS. fielere.] 1. One who plays on a fiddle or
violin.
2. (Zoˆl.) A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species.
The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a
position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle, hence the
name; -- called also calling crab, soldier crab, and fighting crab.
3. (Zoˆl.) The common European sandpiper (Tringoides hypoleucus); -- so
called because it continually oscillates its body.
Fiddler crab. (Zoˆl.) See Fiddler, n., 2.
Fid"dle-shaped` (?), a. (Bot.) Inversely ovate, with a deep hollow on
each side. Gray.
Fid"dle*stick` (?), n. The bow, strung with horsehair, used in playing
the fiddle; a fiddle bow.
Fid"dle*string` (?), n. One of the catgut strings of a fiddle.
Fid"dle*wood` (?), n. [Corrupted fr. F. bois-fidËle, lit., faithful
wood; -- so called from its durability.] The wood of several West
Indian trees, mostly of the genus Citharexylum.
Fi`de*jus"sion (?), n. [L. fidejussio, from fidejubere to be surety or
bail; fides faith + jubere to order: cf. F. fidÈjussion.] (Civil Law)
The act or state of being bound as surety for another; suretyship.
Fi`de*jus"sor (?), n. [L.: cf. F. fidÈjusseur.] (Civil Law) A surety;
one bound for another, conjointly with him; a guarantor. Blackstone.
Fi*del"i*ty (?), n. [L. fidelitas: cf. F. fidÈlitÈ. See Fealty.]
Faithfulness; adherence to right; careful and exact observance of duty,
or discharge of obligations. Especially: (a) Adherence to a person or
party to which one is bound; loyalty.
Whose courageous fidelity was proof to all danger.
Macaulay.
The best security for the fidelity of men is to make interest
coincide with duty.
A. Hamilton.
(b) Adherence to the marriage contract. (c) Adherence to truth;
veracity; honesty.
The principal thing required in a witness is fidelity.
Hooker.
Syn. -- Faithfulness; honesty; integrity; faith; loyalty; fealty.
||Fi"des (?), n. [L., faith.] (Roman Muth.) Faith personified as a
||goddess; the goddess of faith.
Fidge (fj), n. & v. i. See Fidget. [R.] Swift.
Fidg"et (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fidgeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fodgeting.]
[From Fidge; cf. OE. fiken to fidget, to flatter, Icel. fika to hasten,
Sw. fika to hunt after, AS. befician to deceive. Cf. Fickle.] To move
uneasily one way and the other; to move irregularly, or by fits and
starts. Moore.
Fidg"et, n. 1. Uneasiness; restlessness. Cowper.
2. pl. A general nervous restlessness, manifested by incessant changes
of position; dysphoria. Dunglison.
Fidg"et*i*ness (?), n. Quality of being fidgety.
Fidg"et*y (?), a. Restless; uneasy. Lowell.
||Fid"i*a (?), n. [NL., prob. fr. L. fidus trusty.] (Zoˆl.) A genus of
||small beetles, of which one species (the grapevine Fidia, F.
||longipes) is very injurious to vines in America.
Fi*dic"i*nal (?), a. [L. fidicinus, fr. fidicen, -inis, a lute player.]
(Mus.) Of or pertaining to a stringed instrument.
Fi*du"cial (?), a. [L. fiducia trust, confidence; akin to fides faith.
See Faith.] 1. Having faith or trust; confident; undoubting; firm.
"Fiducial reliance on the promises of God." Hammond.
2. Having the nature of a trust; fiduciary; as, fiducial power.
Spelman.
Fiducial edge (Astron. & Surv.), the straight edge of the alidade or
ruler along which a straight line is to be drawn. -- Fiducial line or
point (Math. & Physics.), a line or point of reference, as for setting
a graduated circle or scale used for measurments.
Fi*du"cial*ly, adv. With confidence. South.
Fi*du"ci*a*ry (? or ?), a. [L. fiduciarus, fr. fiducia: cf. F.
fiduciaire. See Fiducial.] 1. Involving confidence or trust; confident;
undoubting; faithful; firm; as, in a fiduciary capacity. "Fiduciary
obedience." Howell.