facial

Etymology

Early 17th century, borrowed from Medieval Latin faciālis (“face-to-face, direct, open”), from faciēs (“form, configuration, figure; face, visage, countenance”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃəl

Adjective

facial (not comparable)

1. (relational) Of or affecting the face.
2. (medicine, relational) Concerned with or used in improving the appearance of the face.
3. (transferred sense, law) (of a law or regulation validity) On its face; as it appears (as opposed to on a more probing analysis, as it is applied, etc.).

   The facial constitutionality of the law is in question.

   • 2001, Bernard E. Harcourt, chapter 5, in Illusion of Order:

     Discipline is a form of counter-law, of dissymmetry and inequality, that operates under the discourse of juridical power to make possible the stated or facial claims of equality and rights characteristic of the French Revolution.

Noun

facial (plural facials)

1. (medicine) A personal care beauty treatment which involves cleansing and moisturizing of the human face.
2. (film) A kind of early silent film focusing on the facial expressions of the actor.
   • 2004, Simon Popple, Joe Kember, Early Cinema: From Factory Gate to Dream Factory, page 92:

     But in facials, moving picture technology also enabled an exaggeration of this performance tradition, bringing a new emphasis to the details […]

3. (slang, sports) (in some contact sports) A foul play which involves one player hitting another's face.
4. (slang, pornography, sex) A sex act of ejaculation onto another person's face.

   Synonym: money shot

   Coordinate term: self-facial

   Long-Dong Chuck gave his co-star a creamy facial.

References

• “facial”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “facial”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• cafila

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin faciālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fə.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fa.siˈal]

Adjective

facial m or f (masculine and feminine plural facials)

1. facial

   músculs facials

   facial muscles

Further reading

• “facial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Etymology

From English facial.

Pronunciation

Noun

facial

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) facial; personal care beauty treatment which involves cleansing and moisturizing of the human face

   做facial [Cantonese]  ―  zou⁶ fei¹ sou⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  to have a facial treatment

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

Etymology

From Latin faciālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa.sjal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

facial (feminine faciale, masculine plural faciaux, feminine plural faciales)

1. facial

Further reading

• “facial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin faciālis.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: fa‧ci‧al

Adjective

facial m or f (plural faciais)

1. facial (of the face)

Further reading

• “facial”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “facial”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Etymology

Borrowed from French facial.

Adjective

facial m or n (feminine singular facială, masculine plural faciali, feminine and neuter plural faciale)

1. facial

Etymology

From Latin faciālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /faˈθjal/ [faˈθjal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /faˈsjal/ [faˈsjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fa‧cial

Adjective

facial m or f (masculine and feminine plural faciales)

1. facial

Further reading

• “facial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10