Face

face
A human face (Mona Lisa).
Latin	faciesa
MeSH	Face
Dorlands/Elsevier	Larynx

The face of a Yorkshire Terrier dog.

A raccoon's face.

The term face refers to the central sense organ complex, for those animals that have one, normally on the ventral surface of the head and can depending on the definition in the human case, include the hair, forehead, eyebrow, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, mouth, lips, philtrum, teeth, skin, and chin.^[1] The face has uses of expression, appearance, and identity amongst others.It also has different senses like smelling, tasting, hearing, and seeing. ^[2]

Caricatures

Caricatures often exaggerate facial features to make a face more easily recognized in association with a pronounced portion of the face of the individual in question—for example, a caricature of Osama bin Laden might focus on his facial hair and nose; a caricature of George W. Bush might enlarge his ears to the size of an elephant's; a caricature of Jay Leno may pronounce his head and chin; and a caricature of Mick Jagger might enlarge his lips. Exaggeration of memorable features helps people to recognize others when presented in a caricature form. ^[3]

Individuality and Recognition

The face is the feature which best distinguishes a person, and there are special regions of the human brain (the Fusiform Face Area, or FFA) which when damaged prevent the recognition of the faces of even intimate family members. The pattern of specific organs such as the eyes or parts thereof are used in biometric identification to uniquely identify individuals.

Metaphor

By extension, anything which is the forward or world facing part of a system which has internal structure is considered its 'face', like the facade of a building. For example a Public Relations or Press Officer might be called the "face" of the organization he or she represents. "Face" also refers to reputation or standing in society, particularly Chinese society and is spoken of as a resource which can be won or lost. Because of the association with individuality the anonymous is sometimes called the "faceless".

Plastic surgery

Cosmetic surgery can be used to alter the appearance of the facial features. ^[4] Plastic surgery may also be used in cases of facial trauma, injury to the face. Severely disfigured individuals have recently received full face transplants.

See also

• Diprosopus
• Face perception
• Loss of face
• Making a face
• Prosopagnosia
• Blackface

Human anatomical features Head Skull · Forehead · Eye · Ear · Nose · Mouth · Tongue · Teeth · Jaw · Face · Cheek · Chin Neck Throat · Adam's apple Torso Shoulder · Spine · Breast (Tail of Spence) · Chest · Ribcage · Abdomen · Navel Sex organs (Clitoris · Vagina · Penis · Scrotum · Testicle) – Hip · Anus · Buttocks Limbs Arm · Elbow · Forearm · Wrist · Hand · Finger (Thumb · Index · Middle · Ring · Little) · Leg · Lap · Thigh · Knee · Calf · Heel · Ankle · Foot · Toe (Hallux) Skin Hair

References

1. ↑ Dictionary.com
2. ↑ Anatomy of the Face and Head Underlying Facial Expression
3. ↑ information about caricatures
4. ↑ MedlinePlus: Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery

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