fiddling (fidling)

[Verbal n. of fiddle, v.] 1. The act or practice of playing on the fiddle. We see Nero's fiddling, and Commodus's skill in fencing, on several of their medals. Add is on, Ancient Medals, iii. 2. Trifling; usele or unimportant doings; fidgeting with the fingers or hands. faithful, that may be trusted, trusty, true, We not only made his [Pole's] whole family of nought, but enhanced them to so high nobility and honour as they have been so long as they were true and fidele unto us. Hen . VIII . to Sir T. Wyatt, March 10, 1539. fidelity (fi-del'i-ti), n. [ fidélité = Pr. fe delt at Sp. fidelidad = Pg. fidelidade = It. fe deltà , fedelità , fidelità , fidelita (t-)s, faithfulne , firm adherence, trustine , fidelis , faithful: see fidele . Cf. fealty , a doublet of fidelity .] 1. Good faith; careful and exact observance of duty or performance of obligations: as, conjugal or official fidelity . I experienced in this brave Arab such an extraordinary instance of fidelity , as is rarely to be met with. Pococke , Description of the East, I. 114. Constancy, fidelity , bounty, and generous honesty, are the gems of noble minds. Sir T. Browne , Christ. Mor., i. 36. 2. Faithful devotion or submi ion; unswerving adherence; close or exact conformity; fealty; allegiance: as, fidelity to a husband or wife, or to a trust; fidelity to one's principles or to instructions; the dog is the type of fidelity. The fidelity of the allies of Rome, which had not been shaken by the defeat of Thrasymenus, could not resist the fiery trial of Cannæ. Dr. Arnold , Hist. Rome, xliv. Verbal translations are always inelegant, because always destitute of beauty of idiom and language, for by their fidelity to an author's words they become treacherous to his reputation. Grainger, Advertisement to Elegies of Tibullus. 3. Faithful adherence to truth or reality; strict conformity to fact; truthfulne ; exactne ; accuracy: as, the fidelity of a witne , of a narrative, or of a picture. - Order of Fidelity. (a) An order of the duchy of Baden, founded by the margrave Charles William in 1715. It is still in existence, and consists of two cla es only, that of grand cro and that of commander. The badge is a cro of eight points in red enamel, having between each two arms the cipher CC; the same cipher occupies the middle of the cro , with the motto Fidelitas . The ribbon is orange-colored and edged with blue. (b) An order of Portugal, founded by John VI. in 1823 for the supporters of the monarchy during the insurrectionary movements in that country. =Syn. Faith, integrity, trustine , trustworthine , conscientiousne ; Constancy, Faithfulne , etc. (see firmne ). fides (fi'dez), n. [L., faith, personified Faith: see faith .] 1. Faith.-2. [ cap .] In Rom.myth ., the godde of faith or fidelity, commonly represented as a matron wearing a wreath of olive or laurel-leaves, and having in her hand ears of corn or a basket of fruit. - Bona fides, good fidfad (fid fad), n. [E. dial., a trifle, a trifler: faith.- Mala fides, bad faith. IMG:content-1273.jpg:[graphic] IMG:content-1274.png:[blocks in formation] fidge II. trans. To cause to fidget. [Scotch.] Ne'er claw your lug, and fidge your back. Burns, Prayer to the Scotch Representatives. fidget (fij'et), v. [ fidge + dim. -et , which has here a freq. force: see fidge .] I. in trans. To move uneasily one way and the other; move irregularly, or in fits and starts; be restle or uneasy; show impatience or uneasine by restle movements. II. trans. To make restle , nervous, or fidgety. "I think you would fidget me," she remarked. fidget (fij'et), n. Scribner's Mag . , III. 677. [ fidget , v .] The expre ion of uneasine , restle ne , impatience, etc., by irregular spasmodic movements and changes of physical expre ion; the condition of feeling thus expre ed: commonly in the plural: as, to be in a fidget or the fidgets; to have the fidgets. But sedentary weavers of long tales Give me the jidgets , and my patience fails. Cowper , Conversation, 1. 208. fidgetily (fij'et-i-li), adv . In a fidgety or restle manner. Gillian fidgetily watches her. R. Brought on , Second Thoughts, ii. 3. fidgetine (fij'et-i-nes), n. [ fidgety + -ne .] The state or quality of being fidgety. His manner was a strange mixture of fidgetine , imperiousne , and tenderne . G. H. Lewes. Fidgetine of fingers shows a great amount of separate action of small nerve-centres, or the centres for small parts. F. Warner, Physical Expre ion, p. 262.