EZE'KIEL, one of the four principal prophets. Like them, he beers a book ; but his own peculiar attribute is a Mond gate with towers, which is either placed in his hand or standing by his side, and which referring to his vision of the new temple, is the type of the heavenly Jeru salem, mentioned by St. John in Revela I Con. It is one of the oldest symbols of Christianity, and also alludes to the mys ' tory of the miraculous conception ; for we find it together with Moses and t ha burning bush, Aaron's rod, Gideon's An gel and Fleece, on I he volets of a picture of the Virgin by Van Eyck, of which only a copy at Bruges is in existence. The subjects usually chosen by the painter in which Ezekiel appears are—his Vision of the Almighty, and his Vision of the Resurrection of the Dead, and in a group with the three other great prophets.
F, the sixth letter of the alphabet, is a labial articulation, formed by placing the upper teeth on the under lip. and accom panied with an emission of breath. Its kindred letter is r, which is chiefly dis tinguished from f by being more vocal. The R0111 MIS for some time used F in verted thus. d, for V consonant, as Olaf,
for I/ iVI. Some have supposed that this was one of the three letters invented by Claudius, but many inscriptions belong ing to periods much anterior to the time of Claudius exhibit this singular use of this letter. F, as a numeral, with the Romans, signified 40, with a dash over it, 40,000. On medals, monuments, ..te stands fur T'abius, Purius, h'el Faustus, Ac.—With i merchants, .f signi fies folio (page.) F often stands in medi cal prescriptions and on documents fur fiat (let it he made or done.) F also stands for , fellow, as F.A.S. Praternita tis Antiquariorum Sodas, or Fellow of the Antiquarian Society.—F2. is the ab breviation for florin, or guilder ; and fr. for franc.--(n music, foyer a line means forte; motto forte ; and F is the nomi nal of the fourth note in the natural dia tonic scale of C.
FA, in music. one of the syllables in vented by Guido Aretine, to mark the fourth note of the modern scale, which rises thus, sit, re, mi, .fa.