figuro

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [fɪˈɡuː.roː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fiˈɡuː.ro]^[1]

Forms

figūrō (present infinitive figūrāre, perfect active figūrāvī, supine figūrātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from figūra “shape” with the verb suffix -ō.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Varro, of shaping.^[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to shape, fashion, mould, as Cicero's god who shaped the world in the form that contains all others, and Lewis and Short call it rare but classical.^[2][3][5] In Ovid it meant to transform, and in Celsus to arrange in a position.^[2] In Vitruvius it meant to produce by shaping, and in Gaius to form a word from another.^[2] It meant to represent, depict, and in Seneca to imagine, and in Quintilian to adorn a speech with figures.^[2] Döderlein explains that figūra is shape in its mathematical outline.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to symbolize, represent allegorically.^[7] Through Old French figurer it gave English figure (verb) in the late 14th century, “to represent”.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of shaping.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the shaping of the world.^[3][5][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of transformation.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English figure (verb) is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shape, fashion; to transform.^[2]
2. To produce; to form a word.^[2]
3. To depict; to imagine.^[2]
4. (rhetoric) To adorn with figures.^[2]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To represent allegorically.^[7]

Word family

• affigūrō
• cōnfigūrō
• figūrātiō
• figūrātīvus
• figūrātor
• figūrātus
• praefiguro
• refigūrō
• trānsfigūrō
• figūrābilis

Related words

• figūra
• fingō
• English figure

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com