Etymograph

English

configurate

Configurate comes from Latin cōnfigūrātus ‘configured or conformed’, from cōnfigūrō ‘to form or alter’, and ultimately from figūra.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfigūra1‘shape, form, figure’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfigūrō1‘figure’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfigūrō2‘to form or alter’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfigūrātus2‘configured or conformed’perfect passive participle of cōnfigūrō
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1685configurate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin configuro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English configurate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1685, Thomas Jordan, A Defence for Musick in its Practique and Theorick: “Where Pyramids to Pyramids relate / And the whole…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfigūraWiktionary, Latin configuro‘shape, form, figure’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfigūrōWiktionary, Latin configuro‘figure’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfigūrōWiktionary, English configurate‘to form or alter’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfigūrātusWiktionary, English configurate‘configured or conformed’perfect passive participle of cōnfigūrō
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1685configurateWiktionary, English configurate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1685, Thomas Jordan, A Defence for Musick in its Practique and Theorick: “Where Pyramids to Pyramids relate / And the whole…”

first attested First attested in 1566 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1566; borrowed from Latin cōnfigūrātus, perfect passive participle of cōnfigūrō (‘to form or alter’), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin figūra ‘shape, form, figure’

figure, figurine, figural, 4 more

through Latin figūrō ‘figure’

figuration, 3 more

Today it means

verb To configure; to arrange or shape.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “configurate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin configuro. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin figūra / configurate

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