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fa·çade also fa·cade

(fə-säd)

1. The face of a building, especially the principal face.

2. An artificial or deceptive front: ideological slogans that were a façade for power struggles.

[French, from Italian facciata, from faccia, face, from Vulgar Latin *facia, from Latin faciēs; see dhē- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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