Deface

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɪˈfeɪs/Rhymes: -eɪs

Origin

Middle English, "to obliterate," from Old French desfacier ("mutilate, destroy, disfigure"), from des- ("away from") (see dis-) + Vulgar Latin *facia

Full definition of deface

Verb

1. To damage something, especially a surface, in a visible or conspicuous manner.
• 1869: ,That wondrous frame where melody began
  Lay as a tomb defaced that no eye cared to scan.
2. To void or devalue; to nullify or degrade the face value.He defaced the I.O.U. notes by scrawling "void" over them.
• 1776: ,One-and-twenty worn and defaced shillings, however, were considered as equivalent to a guinea, which perhaps, indeed, was worn and defaced too, but seldom so much so.
3. (heraldry, flags) To alter a coat of arms or a flag by adding an element to it.You get the Finnish state flag by defacing the national flag with the state coat of arms placed in the middle of the cross.

Synonyms

• (damage in a conspicuous way): disfigure, mar, obliterate, scar, vandalize
• (degrade the face value): cancel, devalue, nullify, void

Derived terms

• defacement