Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Figure

Fig′ure

(fĭg′ū̍r; 135)
,
Noun.
[F.,
figure
, L.
figura
; akin to
fingere
to form, shape, feign. See
Feign
.]
1.
The form of anything; shape; outline; appearance.
Flowers have all exquisite
figures
.
Bacon.
2.
The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modeling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body;
as, a
figure
in bronze; a
figure
cut in marble.
A coin that bears the
figure
of an angel.
Shakespeare
3.
A pattern in cloth, paper, or other manufactured article; a design wrought out in a fabric;
as, the muslin was of a pretty
figure
.
4.
(Geom.)
A diagram or drawing, made to represent a magnitude or the relation of two or more magnitudes; a surface or space inclosed on all sides; – called superficial when inclosed by lines, and solid when inclosed by surfaces; any arrangement made up of points, lines, angles, surfaces, etc.
5.
The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person;
as, a sorry
figure
.
I made some
figure
there.
Dryden.
Gentlemen of the best
figure
in the county.
Blackstone.
6.
Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendor; show.
That he may live in
figure
and indulgence.
Law.
7.
A character or symbol representing a number; a numeral; a digit; as, 1, 2,3, etc.
8.
Value, as expressed in numbers; price;
as, the goods are estimated or sold at a low
figure
.
[Colloq.]
With nineteen thousand a year at the very lowest
figure
.
Thackeray.
9.
A person, thing, or action, conceived of as analogous to another person, thing, or action, of which it thus becomes a type or representative.
Who is the
figure
of Him that was to come.
Rom. v. 14.
10.
(Rhet.)
A mode of expressing abstract or immaterial ideas by words which suggest pictures or images from the physical world; pictorial language; a trope; hence, any deviation from the plainest form of statement. Also called a
figure of speech
.
To represent the imagination under the
figure
of a wing.
Macaulay.
11.
(Logic)
The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.
12.
(Dancing)
Any one of the several regular steps or movements made by a dancer.
13.
(Astrol.)
A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.
Johnson.
(b)
A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a musical phrase or motive; a florid embellishment.
2/2
2/4
2/8
4/2
2/4
4/8
3/2
3/4
3/8
6/4
6/4
6/8
Academy figure
,
Canceled figures
,
Lay figure
, etc.
See under
Academy
,
Cancel
,
Lay
, etc.
–
Figure caster
, or
Figure flinger
,
an astrologer.
“This figure caster.”
Milton.
–
Figure flinging
,
the practice of astrology.
–
Figure-of-eight knot
,
a knot shaped like the figure 8. See Illust. under
Knot
.
–
Figure painting
,
a picture of the human figure, or the act or art of depicting the human figure.
–
Figure stone
(Min.)
,
agalmatolite.
–
Figure weaving
,
the art or process of weaving figured fabrics.
–
To cut a figure
,
to make a display.
[Colloq.]
Sir W. Scott.

Fig′ure

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Figured
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Figuring
.]
[F.
figurer
, L.
figurare
, fr.
figura
. See
Figure
,
Noun.
]
1.
To represent by a figure, as to form or mold; to make an image of, either palpable or ideal; also, to fashion into a determinate form; to shape.
If love, alas! be pain I bear,
No thought can
figure
, and no tongue declare.Prior.
2.
To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.
The vaulty top of heaven
Figured
quite o’er with burning meteors.
Shakespeare
3.
To indicate by numerals; also, to compute.
As through a crystal glass the
figured
hours are seen.
Dryden.
4.
To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.
Whose white vestments
figure
innocence.
Shakespeare
5.
To prefigure; to foreshow.
In this the heaven
figures
some event.
Shakespeare
6.
(Mus.)
(a)
To write over or under the bass, as figures or other characters, in order to indicate the accompanying chords.
(b)
To embellish.
To figure out
,
to solve; to compute or find the result of.
–
To figure up
,
to add; to reckon; to compute the amount of.

Fig′ure

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To make a figure; to be distinguished or conspicious;
as, the envoy
figured
at court
.
Sociable, hospitable, eloquent, admired,
figuring
away brilliantly.
M. Arnold.
2.
To calculate; to contrive; to scheme;
as, he is
figuring
to secure the nomination
.
[Colloq.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Figure

FIG'URE

,
Noun.
fig'ur. [L. figura, from figo, to fix or set. See Feign.]
1.
The form of any thing as expressed by the outline or terminating extremities. Flowers have exquisite figures. A triangle is a figure of three sides. A square is a figure of four equal sides and equal angles.
2.
Shape; form; person; as a lady of elegant figure.
A good figure, or person, in man or woman, gives credit at first sight to the choice of either.
3.
Distinguished appearance; eminence; distinction; remarkable character. Ames made a figure in Congress; Hamilton, in the cabinet.
4.
Appearance of any kind; as an ill figure; a mean figure.
5.
Magnificence; splendor; as, to live in figure and indulgence.
6.
A statue; an image; that which is formed in resemblance of something else; as the figure of a man in plaster.
7.
Representation in painting; the lines and colors which represent an animal, particularly a person; as the principal figures of a picture; a subordinate figure.
8.
In manufactures, a design or representation wrought on damask, velvet and other stuffs.
9.
In logic, the order or disposition of the middle term in a syllogism with the parts of the question.
10.
In arithmetic, a character denoting a number; as 2. 7. 9.
11.
In astrology, the horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.
12.
In theology, type; representative.
Who was the figure of him that was to come. Rom. 5.
13.
In rhetoric, a mode of speaking or writing in which words are deflected from their ordinary signification, or a mode more beautiful and emphatical than the ordinary way of expressing the sense; the language of the imagination and passions; as, knowledge is the light of the mind; the soul mounts on the wings of faith; youth is the morning of life. In strictness, the change of a word is a trope, and any affection of a sentence a figure; but these terms are often confounded.
14.
In grammar, any deviation from the rules of analogy or syntax.
15.
In dancing, the several steps which the dancer makes in order and cadence, considered as they form certain figures on the floor.

FIG'URE

,
Verb.
T.
fig'ur.
1.
To form or mold into any determinate shape.
Accept this goblet, rough with figured gold.
2.
To show by a corporeal resemblance, as in picture or statuary.
3.
To cover or adorn with figures or images; to mark with figures; to form figures in by art; as, to figure velvet or muslin.
4.
To diversify; to variegate with adventitious forms of matter.
5.
To represent by a typical or figurative resemblance.
The matter of the sacraments figureth their end.
6.
To imagine; to image in the mind.
7.
To prefigure; to foreshow.
8.
To form figuratively; to use in a sense not literal; as figured expressions. [Little used.]
9.
To note by characters.
As though a crystal glass the figured hours are seen.
10.
In music, to pass several notes for one; to form runnings or variations.

FIG'URE

,
Verb.
I.
To make a figure; to be distinguished. The envoy figured at the court of St. Cloud.

Definition 2024

figure

figure

See also: figuré

English

A figure showing some relationships between variables.
An advertisement promising women to improve their figures.
A sports figure.
A skating figure.

Noun

figure ‎(plural figures)

  1. A drawing or diagram conveying information.
    • 2004, Joshua Tree National Park 2004 Visitor Study:
      For example, while Figure 1 shows information for 516 visitor groups, Figure 3 presents data for 1,625 individuals. A note above each graph or table specifies the information illustrated. ... For example, although Joshua Tree NP visitors returned 525 questionnaires, Figure 1 shows data for only 516 respondents.
  2. The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modelling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body.
    a figure in bronze; a figure cut in marble
    • Shakespeare
      a coin that bears the figure of an angel
  3. A person or thing representing a certain consciousness.
    • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
      Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.
  4. The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person.
    He cut a sorry figure standing there in the rain.
    • Dryden
      I made some figure there.
    • Blackstone
      gentlemen of the best figure in the county
  5. (obsolete) Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendour; show.
    • Law
      that he may live in figure and indulgence
  6. A human figure, which dress or corset must fit to; the shape of a human body.
    • 1919, B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols, Searchlights on Health:
      The origin of the corset is lost in remote antiquity. The figures of the early Egyptian women show clearly an artificial shape of the waist produced by some style of corset.
  7. A numeral.
  8. A number.
    • 1996, David Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt:
      (i) in the 1966 edition of The Destruction of Dresden Irving contended that 135,000 were estimated authoritatively to have been killed and further contended that the documentation suggested a figure between 100,00 and 250,000;
  9. A shape.
    • Francis Bacon
      Flowers have all exquisite figures.
    • 1908, Algernon Blackwood, John Silence, Physician Extraordinary:
      And these were not human shapes, or the shapes of anything I recognised as alive in the world, but outlines of fire that traced globes, triangles, crosses, and the luminous bodies of various geometrical figures.
  10. A visible pattern as in wood or cloth.
    The muslin was of a pretty figure.
  11. A dance figure, a complex dance moveW.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
      Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, […] . It was with a palpable relief that he heard the first warning notes of the figure.
  12. A figure of speech.
    • Macaulay
      to represent the imagination under the figure of a wing
  13. (logic) The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.
  14. (astrology) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)
  15. (music) Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Grove to this entry?)
  16. (music) A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a motif; a florid embellishment.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

human figure; shape of human body

Verb

figure ‎(third-person singular simple present figures, present participle figuring, simple past and past participle figured) (mainly US)

  1. To solve a mathematical problem.
  2. To come to understand.
    I can't figure if he's telling the truth or lying.
  3. (intransitive) To be reasonable.
  4. (transitive) To enter, be a part of.
  5. (obsolete) To represent by a figure, as to form or mould; to make an image of, either palpable or ideal; also, to fashion into a determinate form; to shape.
    • Prior
      If love, alas! be pain I bear, / No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.
  6. To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.
    • Shakespeare
      The vaulty top of heaven / Figured quite o'er with burning meteors.
  7. (obsolete) To indicate by numerals.
    • Dryden
      As through a crystal glass the figured hours are seen.
  8. To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.
    • Shakespeare
      whose white vestments figure innocence
  9. (obsolete) To prefigure; to foreshow.
    • Shakespeare
      In this the heaven figures some event.
  10. (music) To write over or under the bass, as figures or other characters, in order to indicate the accompanying chords.
  11. (music) To embellish.

Derived terms

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: covered · born · somewhat · #719: figure · goes · youth · sudden

French

Etymology

From Latin figura.

Pronunciation

Noun

figure f ‎(plural figures)

  1. face
  2. figure

Synonyms

Related terms

Italian

Noun

figure f

  1. plural of figura

Spanish

Verb

figure

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of figurar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of figurar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of figurar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of figurar.

Etymology

From Middle English figure, from Old French figure, from Latin figura ‎(“form, shape, form of a word, a figure of speech, Late Latin a sketch, drawing”), from fingō ‎(“to form, shape, mold, fashion”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‎(“to mold, shape, form, knead”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τεῖχος ‎(teîkhos), Sanskrit देग्धि ‎(degdhi), Old English dāg ‎(“dough”). More at dough.

Pronunciation

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