Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “figurative” come from?

Figurative comes from Middle French figuratif, meaning "of or pertaining to figures or representation."

figurative (English): Of use as a metaphor, simile, or metonym, as...

Definitions

  1. Of use as a metaphor, simile, or metonym, as...

Ancestry of “figurative”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchfiguratif—

Words derived from “figurative”

  • figuratively
  • nonfigurative
  • figurativeness
  • unfigurative
Every word from Middle French figuratif →