1. In a person's body, any small, smooth surface of a bone; especially, at the point where there is a joining and juncture of two structures: In her anatomy class, Lynn could see the facets on the vertebrae of the dead corpse in front of her, all of which were even and flat.
2. A small, flat surface on a jewel or the many-sided areas of some gemstones: Some jewelry have facets cut into them in order to improve their appearances by allowing them to reflect more light.
3. Etymology: from French facette, "small face" or "little face". © ALL rights are reserved.

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To cut precious stones in order to display pleasing balances of internal reflections of light known as brilliance, or strong and colorful dispersion which is commonly referred to as "fire," and brightly colored flashes of reflected light known as scintillation: Typically transparent to translucent stones are faceted, although some opaque materials may occasionally be faceted as the luster of the gem will produce appealing reflections of light.

Two or more bones that are joined and which allow motion or articulation: The two parts of the skeleton that are fitted together in the spine are known as .

Each vertebra has two sets of facet joints in which one pair faces upward (superior articular facets) and one pair faces downward (inferior articular facets).

Facet joints are synovial in that each joint is surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue which produces a fluid to lubricate all of them so they can move or slide (articulate) with each other.

A medical process that destroys the small nerve branches that send pain signals from the facet joint: Facet-joint coagulations are performed with the patient lying on his or her stomach.

A mobile X-ray unit is used to determine the optimal localization for the coagulation needle in the facet-joint coagulation procedure.

During the treatment of the facet-joint coagulation, the selected nerve is destroyed by heat that lasts for a few seconds; but because of the anesthesia, it should not be felt by the patient.

Any of the four projections that link one vertebra of the spine to an adjacent vertebra: Lumbar facet joints are increasingly held responsible for low back aches.

The lumbar facet joints are subjected to continuous stresses throughout life and by degeneration, reactive remodeling, and hypertrophy (enlargement); all of which can affect the joints.