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.