Where does “figure” come from?

figure (Middle English) comes from Old French figure, from Latin figūra, from Latin fingō, from Proto-Indo-European dʰeyǵʰ- — to knead; to form, to shape.

figure (Middle English): shape, form, appearance

Definitions

  1. shape, form, appearance

Ancestry of “figure”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchfigure—
2Latinfigūrashape, form, figure
3Latinfingōto shape, fashion, form, knead (dough)
4Proto-Indo-Europeandʰeyǵʰ-to knead; to form, to shape

Words derived from “figure”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰeyǵʰ- →