Etymograph

English

figure

Figure comes from Old French figure, from Latin figūra ‘form, shape’, from fingō ‘to shape’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-1‘to mold, knead’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingō1‘to form, shape’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfigūra1‘form, shape’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400figure1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500figure1‘shape’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588figure1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English figure
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “His loftie browes in foldes, do figure death, And…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-Wiktionary, English figure‘to mold, knead’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingōWiktionary, English figure‘to form, shape’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfigūraWiktionary, English figure‘form, shape’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400figureWiktionary, English figure
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500figureWiktionary, English figure‘shape’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588figureWiktionary, English figure. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “His loftie browes in foldes, do figure death, And…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to knead’

lady, fiction, paradise, dairy, dough, faint, fictitious, dey, feint, effigy, feign, figment, 26 more

through Latin figūra ‘form, shape, form of a word, a figure of…’

configuration, 7 more

Today it means

noun A drawing or diagram conveying information.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “figure”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- / figure

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