fess

Etymology 1

From confess, by shortening.

verb

1. To confess; to admit.

Etymology 2

From Old French fesse, an alteration of faisse, from Latin fascia. Doublet of fajita, fascia, and fascism.

noun

1. (heraldry) A horizontal band across the middle of the shield.
   Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral—Hum! Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, Norton, published 2005, page 294
   The space where the arms of Wolsey used to be is being repainted with his own newly granted arms: azure, on a fess between three lions rampant or, a rose gules, barbed vert, between two Cornish choughs proper. 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 420

Etymology 3

adj

1. (UK dialect) Proud; conceited.
   Y'll be fess enough, my poppet, when th'st know!" 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 32
2. (UK dialect) Lively; active; strong.
3. (UK dialect) Of animals, bad-tempered, fierce.