effigy English · revision 2252

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɛfəd͡ʒi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|effigie]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|la|effigiēs|t=likeness, copy, image]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from ''effingere'' “to form, portray”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[af|la|ex-|fingere|t1=out|t2=to shape]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|ine-pro|*dheigh-|t=to form, build]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD) The Latin word was taken as a plural, and its ''-s'' was dropped by the 18th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A likeness, portrait or image of a person (1539).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The phrase ''in effigy'' appeared in 1617,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and to hang or burn someone in effigy by the 1670s.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Courts once did this as a symbolic punishment of criminals who had escaped them;^(Etymonline) later it became a popular way of expressing hatred of a person.^(Etymonline) So the word came to mean especially a crude dummy of a hated person,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) though it still names sculptured figures on tombs.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1539 – a likeness, portrait or image.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1617 – ''in effigy''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1678 – ''to burn'' or ''hang in effigy''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1816 – verb, to represent.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1885 – ''effigy mound''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A crude figure or dummy representing a hated person or group.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A likeness or image of a person, especially a sculptured one on a monument.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[figure]]

+ * [[fiction]]

+ * [[feign]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''In effigy'' means publicly in the form of an effigy, as in ''the coach was burned in effigy''.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}