Firstling
(First"ling), a. Firstborn.
All the firstling males.
Deut. xv. 19. Firstly
(First"ly), adv. In the first place; before anything else; — sometimes improperly used for first.
First-rate
(First"-rate`) a. Of the highest excellence; preëminent in quality, size, or estimation.
Our only first-rate body of contemporary poetry is the German.
M. Arnold.
Hermocrates . . . a man of first-rate ability.
Jowett First-rate
(First"-rate`), n. (Naut.) A war vessel of the highest grade or the most powerful class.
Firth
(Firth) n. [Scot. See Frith.] (geog.) An arm of the sea; a frith.
Fir tree
(Fir" tree`) See Fir.
Fisc
(Fisc) n. [F. fisc, fr. L. fiscus basket, money basket, treasury; prob. akin to fascis bundle. See
Fasces.] A public or state treasury. Burke.
Fiscal
(Fis"cal) a. [F. fiscal, L. fiscalis, fr. fiscus. See Fisc.] Pertaining to the public treasury or
revenue.
The fiscal arreangements of government.
A>Hamilton. Fiscal
(Fis"cal), n.
1. The income of a prince or a state; revenue; exhequer. [Obs.] Bacon.
2. A treasurer. H. Swinburne.
3. A public officer in Scotland who prosecutes in petty criminal cases; — called also procurator fiscal.
4. The solicitor in Spain and Portugal; the attorney-general.
Fisetic
(Fi*set"ic) a. (Chem.) Pertaining to fustet or fisetin.
Fisetin
(Fis"e*tin) n. [G. fisettholz a species of fustic.] (Chem.) A yellow crystalline substance extracted
from fustet, and regarded as its essential coloring principle; — called also fisetic acid.
Fish
(Fish) n. [F. fiche peg, mark, fr. fisher to fix.] A counter, used in various games.
Fish
(Fish), n.; pl. Fishes or collectively, Fish. [OE. fisch, fisc, fis, AS. fisc; akin to D. visch, OS.
& OHG. fisk, G. fisch, Icel. fiskr, Sw. & Dan. fisk, Goth. fisks, L. piscis, Ir. iasg. Cf. Piscatorial.
In some cases, such as fish joint, fish plate, this word has prob. been confused with fish, fr. F. fichea
peg.]
1. A name loosely applied in popular usage to many animals of diverse characteristics, living in the
water.
2. (Zoöl.) An oviparous, vertebrate animal usually having fins and a covering scales or plates. It breathes
by means of gills, and lives almost entirely in the water. See Pisces.
The true fishes include the Teleostei Ganoidei, Dipnoi, and Elasmobranchii or Selachians (sharks and
skates). Formerly the leptocardia and Marsipobranciata were also included, but these are now generally
regarded as two distinct classes, below the fishes.
