Word: figure Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English figure, borrowed from Old French figure, from Latin figūra (“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 (dégdhi), Old English dāg (“dough”). More at dough. Doublet of figura. Pronunciation: /ˈfɪɡə/, /ˈfɪɡjɚ/, /ˈfɪɡɚ/, /ˈfɪɡəɾ/, /ˈfɪɡəɹ/ 1. A drawing or diagram conveying information. Example: 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. Example: a figure in bronze; a figure cut in marble Example: a coin that bears the figure of an angel 3. A person, thing, or action representative of another Example: 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. Example: He cut a sorry figure standing there in the rain. Example: I made some figure there. 5. Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendour; show. Labels: obsolete Example: 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. Example: 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. Example: She was cunningly dressed in a black, sheer gown with gold ornaments showing her figure to perfection. 7. A numeral. 8. A number, an amount. Example: (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. Example: a geometrical figure, a plane figure, a solid figure Example: Flowers have all exquisite figures. 10. A visible pattern as in wood or cloth. Example: The muslin was of a pretty figure. 11. Any complex dance moveᵂ. Example: 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. Example: to represent the imagination under the figure of a wing 13. The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term. 14. A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses. Example: its quality, like those of all the rest, is determined by its position in the house of the astrological figure 15. Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression. Example: Here, Beethoven limits the syncopations and modifications of rhythm which are so prominent in the first and third movements, and employs a rapid, busy, and most melodious figure in the Violins, which is irresistible in its gay and brilliant effect[…] 16. A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a motif; a florid embellishment.