What does feature mean?
A feature is a distinctive attribute or notable element of something — a quality that stands out enough to identify, describe, or advertise it. The word applies across everyday and specialised contexts: we speak of the features of a landscape or a face, the features of a smartphone or insurance plan, and the featured articles or films that headline a publication or cinema programme. As a verb, to feature someone or something means to give them prominent inclusion, as when a concert features a guest artist. The word carries a broadly positive or neutral connotation, since features are usually the aspects worth pointing out; in computing, however, it has acquired a wry double edge through the quip that a flaw may be defended as 'a feature, not a bug'. Derived forms include featured, featuring, and featureless, the last describing something lacking any striking characteristics. Few words move so smoothly between design, journalism, entertainment, and ordinary description.
A distinctive attribute, characteristic, or aspect of something, such as a function of a product or a part of the face.
"The app's best feature is how quickly it syncs across devices."
Often used attributively before another noun, as in 'feature list' or 'feature set'.
A special or prominent article in a publication, or a full-length film shown as the main attraction.
"She wrote the magazine's cover feature on urban rewilding."
To include or present someone or something prominently; to have a particular person or thing as an important element.
"The documentary features interviews with survivors recorded over three decades."
The plural 'features' frequently refers collectively to facial characteristics (as in 'her fine features') or to a set of product capabilities.
"The new update rolls out several security features across all devices."
In software, engineers joke that 'it's not a bug, it's a feature' — but the word itself began as Latin *factura*, meaning 'a thing made'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of feature
'Feature' comes from Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French *faiture* and ultimately from Latin *factura*, meaning 'a making or a thing made', derived from *facere*, 'to make or do'. Its earliest senses related to the make-up or proportions of the body, which is why facial features remain a core use today. The same Latin root gives English 'feat', 'defeat', and words like 'confection', all preserving the idea of something made or done. The senses relating to films and newspaper articles are comparatively modern developments of the idea of a principal or distinctive item.
Related word forms
How feature is actually used
As a noun, 'feature' spans concrete traits (facial features), product capabilities, and media items. As a verb, 'feature(s)' is common in entertainment and marketing contexts ('the exhibition features works by…'). In software culture, the phrase 'it's a feature, not a bug' is a well-established informal idiom.
Easily confused with feature
A facet is one of many sides or aspects of a complex whole (often abstract), while a feature is any distinctive or notable attribute, especially of an object, product, or face.