false definition | Dictionary.com

false

[fawls]

adjective, fals⋅er, fals⋅est, adverb

–adjective

1.	not true or correct; erroneous: a false statement.

2.	uttering or declaring what is untrue: a false witness.

3.	not faithful or loyal; treacherous: a false friend.

4.	tending to deceive or mislead; deceptive: a false impression.

5.	not genuine; counterfeit.

6.	based on mistaken, erroneous, or inconsistent impressions, ideas, or facts: false pride.

7.	used as a substitute or supplement, esp. temporarily: false supports for a bridge.

8.	Biology. having a superficial resemblance to something that properly bears the name: the false acacia.

9.	not properly, accurately, or honestly made, done, or adjusted: a false balance.

10.	inaccurate in pitch, as a musical note.

–adverb

11.	dishonestly; faithlessly; treacherously: Did he speak false against me?

—Idiom

12.	play someone false, to betray someone; be treacherous or faithless.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE fals < L falsus feigned, false, orig. ptp. of fallere to deceive; reinforced by or reborrowed from AF, OF fals, fem. false < L

Related forms:

falsely, adverb

falseness, noun

Synonyms:
1. mistaken, incorrect, wrong, untrue. 2. untruthful, lying, mendacious. 3. insincere, hypocritical, disingenuous, disloyal, unfaithful, inconstant, perfidious, traitorous. 4. misleading, fallacious. 5. artificial, spurious, bogus, forged. False, sham, counterfeit agree in referring to something that is not genuine. False is used mainly of imitations of concrete objects; it sometimes implies an intent to deceive: false teeth; false hair. Sham is rarely used of concrete objects and usually has the suggestion of intent to deceive: sham title; sham tears. Counterfeit always has the implication of cheating; it is used particularly of spurious imitation of coins, paper money, etc.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To false

false (fôls)

adj. fals·er, fals·est

Contrary to fact or truth: false tales of bravery.
Deliberately untrue: delivered false testimony under oath.
Arising from mistaken ideas: false hopes of writing a successful novel.
Intentionally deceptive: a suitcase with a false bottom; false promises.
Not keeping faith; treacherous: a false friend. See Synonyms at faithless.
Not genuine or real: false teeth; false documents.
Erected temporarily, as for support during construction.
Resembling but not accurately or properly designated as such: a false thaw in January; the false dawn peculiar to the tropics.
Music Of incorrect pitch.
Unwise; imprudent: Don't make a false move or I'll shoot.
Computer Science Indicating one of two possible values taken by a variable in Boolean logic or a binary device.

adv. In a treacherous or faithless manner: play a person false.

[Middle English fals, from Old English, counterfeit, and from Old French, false, both from Latin falsus, from past participle of fallere, to deceive.]
false'ly adv., false'ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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False

False\, a. [Compar. Falser; superl. Falsest.] [L. falsus, p. p. of fallere to deceive; cf. OF. faus, fals, F. faux, and AS. fals fraud. See Fail, Fall.]

1. Uttering falsehood; unveracious; given to deceit; dishnest; as, a false witness.

2. Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous; perfidious; as, a false friend, lover, or subject; false to promises.

I to myself was false, ere thou to me. --Milton.

3. Not according with truth or reality; not true; fitted or likely to deceive or disappoint; as, a false statement.

4. Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive; counterfeit; hypocritical; as, false tears; false modesty; false colors; false jewelry.

False face must hide what the false heart doth know. --Shak.

5. Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous; as, a false claim; a false conclusion; a false construction in grammar.

Whose false foundation waves have swept away. --Spenser.

6. Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.

7. (Mus.) Not in tune.

False arch (Arch.), a member having the appearance of an arch, though not of arch construction.

False attic, an architectural erection above the main cornice, concealing a roof, but not having windows or inclosing rooms.

False bearing, any bearing which is not directly upon a vertical support; thus, the weight carried by a corbel has a false bearing.

False cadence, an imperfect or interrupted cadence.

False conception (Med.), an abnormal conception in which a mole, or misshapen fleshy mass, is produced instead of a properly organized fetus.

False croup (Med.), a spasmodic affection of the larynx attended with the symptoms of membranous croup, but unassociated with the deposit of a fibrinous membrane.

False door or window (Arch.), the representation of a door or window, inserted to complete a series of doors or windows or to give symmetry.

False fire, a combustible carried by vessels of war, chiefly for signaling, but sometimes burned for the purpose of deceiving an enemy; also, a light on shore for decoying a vessel to destruction.

False galena. See Blende.

False imprisonment (Law), the arrest and imprisonment of a person without warrant or cause, or contrary to law; or the unlawful detaining of a person in custody.

False keel (Naut.), the timber below the main keel, used to serve both as a protection and to increase the shio's lateral resistance.

False key, a picklock.

False leg. (Zo["o]l.) See Proleg.

False membrane (Med.), the fibrinous deposit formed in croup and diphtheria, and resembling in appearance an animal membrane.

False papers (Naut.), documents carried by a ship giving false representations respecting her cargo, destination, ect., for the purpose of deceiving.

False passage (Surg.), an unnatural passage leading off from a natural canal, such as the urethra, and produced usually by the unskillful introduction of instruments.

False personation (Law), the intentional false assumption of the name and personality of another.

False pretenses (Law), false representations concerning past or present facts and events, for the purpose of defrauding another.

False rail (Naut.), a thin piece of timber placed on top of the head rail to strengthen it.

False relation (Mus.), a progression in harmony, in which a certain note in a chord appears in the next chord prefixed by a flat or sharp.

False return (Law), an untrue return made to a process by the officer to whom it was delivered for execution.

False ribs (Anat.), the asternal rebs, of which there are five pairs in man.

False roof (Arch.), the space between the upper ceiling and the roof. --Oxford Gloss.

False token, a false mark or other symbol, used for fraudulent purposes.

False scorpion (Zo["o]l.), any arachnid of the genus Chelifer. See Book scorpion.

False tack (Naut.), a coming up into the wind and filling away again on the same tack.

False vampire (Zo["o]l.), the Vampyrus spectrum of South America, formerly erroneously supposed to have blood-sucking habits; -- called also vampire, and ghost vampire. The genuine blood-sucking bats belong to the genera Desmodus and Diphylla. See Vampire.

False window. (Arch.) See False door, above.

False wing. (Zo["o]l.) See Alula, and Bastard wing, under Bastard.

False works (Civil Engin.), construction works to facilitate the erection of the main work, as scaffolding, bridge centering, etc.

False

False\, adv. Not truly; not honestly; falsely. "You play me false." --Shak.

False

False\, v. t. [L. falsare to falsify, fr. falsus: cf. F. fausser. See False, a.]

1. To report falsely; to falsify. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

2. To betray; to falsify. [Obs.]

[He] hath his truthe falsed in this wise. --Chaucer.

3. To mislead by want of truth; to deceive. [Obs.]

In his falsed fancy. --Spenser.

4. To feign; to pretend to make. [Obs.] "And falsed oft his blows." --Spenser.

Language Translation for : false

Spanish: falso,

German: falsch,

Japanese: 間違った

More Translations »

false

c.1200, from O.Fr. fals, faus, from L. falsus "deceived, erroneous, mistaken," pp. of fallere "deceive, disappoint," of uncertain origin. Adopted into other Gmc. languages (cf. Ger. falsch, Dan. falsk), though Eng. is the only one in which the active sense of "deceitful" (a secondary sense in L.) has predominated. Falsies "padded brassiere" first recorded 1943.

Main Entry: false
Function: adjective
1 : not genuine, authentic, or legitimate —compare COUNTERFEIT
2 a : not true or correct; especially : intentionally or knowingly untrue or incorrect false accusations> b : intended to mislead or deceive : DECEPTIVE, MISLEADING —compare FRAUDULENT —false·ly adverb —false·ness noun

Main Entry: false
Pronunciation: 'fols
Function: adjective
Inflected Forms: fals·er; fals·est
1 : not correspondingto truth or reality false results>
2 : artificially made false teeth>
3 : of a kind relatedto or resembling another kind that is usually designated by the unqualified vernacular <false oats> —false·ly adverb —false·ness noun

FALSE
A small, compiled extensible language with lambda abstractions by W. van Oortmerssen.
For Amiga.

false

In addition to the idioms beginning with false, also see lull into (false sense of security); play false; ring false.

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