NODE / 0939attestedLatin

figūra

TRANSLITERATION figūra

shape; form; likeness; figure of speech

DATE: Latin antiquity
SENSE: shape form result
FAMILY: Indo-European / Italic
CANONICAL KEY: node:9:figura:attested:sense:shape-form-result

The Latin noun at the center of the borrowed family.

ANCESTRAL EDGES

ROOT OF THIS ROOT

GO DEEPERmorphological derivationestablished

Proto-Indo-European · Proto-Indo-European suffixed zero-grade formation · form shape result

*dhigh-ūrā-

result of forming or kneading

SOUND: Latin figūra reflects the suffixed zero-grade formation *dhigh-ūrā-.
MEANING: A result of forming or kneading becomes shape, form, and representation.
SCHOLAR: Calvert Watkins and American Heritage Dictionary Editors
CONFIDENCE: established — Merriam-Webster instead analyzes figūra through the stem of fingere; that compatible but differently segmented route remains a cited graph branch.

Indo-European Root: dheigh-supportsdheigh-: suffixed zero-grade *dhigh-ūrā- to Latin figūra

Publishes the root formation behind the Latin noun.

ORIGINAL ↗

Figure — American Heritage DictionarycontextEtymology: Old French figure from Latin figūra; see dheigh-

Independently places the word in the same deep family.

ORIGINAL ↗

OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 936 ↗

GO DEEPERcompeting derivationproposed

Latin · Latin antiquity · shape mold verb

fingere

to mold; fashion; shape; make a likeness

SOUND: Merriam-Webster derives figūra from fig-, a variant stem of fingere, plus -ūra.
MEANING: A result or product of shaping becomes form, likeness, and representation.
SCHOLAR: Merriam-Webster Editors
CONFIDENCE: proposed — American Heritage instead prints the noun as a direct suffixed root formation; both analyses remain visible.

Figure — Definition, Word History, and First Known UsesupportsEtymology: figūra from fig-, stem of fingere, plus -ūra

Publishes the verb-stem analysis.

ORIGINAL ↗

OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 943 ↗

DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES

THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP

DESCENDANTborrowingestablished

Anglo-French · Anglo-French · shape form noun

figure

shape; form; likeness

SOUND: Anglo-French figure continues Latin figūra through Romance transmission.
MEANING: Shape, outward appearance, likeness, and represented form remain central.
SCHOLAR: Merriam-Webster Editors
CONFIDENCE: established

Figure — Definition, Word History, and First Known UsesupportsEtymology: Anglo-French from Latin figūra

Publishes the French-to-Latin step.

ORIGINAL ↗

OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 935 ↗

DESCENDANTcompeting borrowingproposed

Old French · Old French · shape form noun

figure

shape; form; likeness

SOUND: American Heritage labels the French intermediary Old French, while Merriam-Webster labels it Anglo-French.
MEANING: The shape and form noun passes from Latin through medieval French into English.
SCHOLAR: American Heritage Dictionary Editors
CONFIDENCE: proposed — The graph preserves both donor labels rather than silently selecting one medieval French variety.

Figure — American Heritage DictionarysupportsEtymology: Middle English from Old French from Latin figūra

Publishes the alternate medieval French label.

ORIGINAL ↗

OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 942 ↗

TRANSITIVE DESCENDANT CLOSURE

EVERY REVIEWED BRANCH FROM HERE

This is the complete downstream closure currently supported by the canonical graph. Every displayed step is a real reviewed edge with its own sound claim, meaning claim, scholar, confidence, and citations.

UNIQUE DESCENDANT NODES: 4
REVIEWED EDGES: 4
DEEPEST PATH: 3
MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED: 1

figure3 connected nodes

HISTORICAL STEP 012 EDGES

STEP 01borrowingestablished

Latinfigūra→Anglo-French · Anglo-Frenchfigureshape; form; likeness

SOUND: Anglo-French figure continues Latin figūra through Romance transmission.
MEANING: Shape, outward appearance, likeness, and represented form remain central.

Merriam-Webster Editors1 CITATIONEDGE 935 ↗

Figure — Definition, Word History, and First Known Use · Etymology: Anglo-French from Latin figūra ↗

STEP 01competing borrowingproposed

Latinfigūra→Old French · Old Frenchfigureshape; form; likeness

SOUND: American Heritage labels the French intermediary Old French, while Merriam-Webster labels it Anglo-French.
MEANING: The shape and form noun passes from Latin through medieval French into English.

American Heritage Dictionary Editors1 CITATIONEDGE 942 ↗

Figure — American Heritage Dictionary · Etymology: Middle English from Old French from Latin figūra ↗

HISTORICAL STEP 021 EDGE

STEP 02borrowingestablished

Anglo-Frenchfigure→Middle English · Middle Englishfigureshape; form; likeness; symbol; written character

SOUND: Middle English borrows Anglo-French figure with English phonological adaptation.
MEANING: The shape, form, likeness, and symbol field is retained.

Merriam-Webster Editors1 CITATIONEDGE 934 ↗

Figure — Definition, Word History, and First Known Use · Etymology: Middle English from Anglo-French ↗

HISTORICAL STEP 031 EDGE

STEP 03continuationestablished

Middle Englishfigure→Present-Day English · 13th century–todayfigureshape; representation; symbol; number; person

SOUND: Middle English figure continues into modern figure with spelling stability and later English pronunciation development.
MEANING: Shape, likeness, symbol, number, person, and calculation senses expand from representation.

Merriam-Webster Editors1 CITATIONEDGE 933 ↗

Figure — Definition, Word History, and First Known Use · Etymology and First Known Use, noun ↗

“Every” means every descendant in the reviewed SET-U graph. It does not convert missing scholarship or missing ingestion into a claim of historical completeness. The coverage ledger remains the honest denominator.

RECORDED EVIDENCE

ATTESTATIONS / FIRST KNOWN USE

NO RECORDED WITNESS ATTACHED.

The reviewed graph does not yet attach a source-reported or directly inspected witness to this canonical form.

EDITORIAL REUSE

WORD DOSSIERS USING THIS NODE

04figurefigūra · established