PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-figure
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
9 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
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historical dictionarymw-figure
Figure — Definition, Word History, and First Known Use
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
011
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 128GRADE Acontext
A figure and dough share a shaping root.
Latin figūra and the Germanic dough noun follow different formations back to *dheigh-, to form or build.
*dheig̑h-
*dheig̑h- → *dheigh- → *dhigh-ūrā- → figūra → figure → figure → figure
Latin figūra, shape or form, from the fingere familySupplies the Latin shaping semantics.
figure dossier ↗truth record ↗86UNVEILING
021
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedsupportsestablished
Did figure begin as a word only for numbers?
No. Its Latin and medieval fields include shape, form, likeness, symbol, and representation; numerical use is one branch of a wider history.
Etymology and historical sense inventoryPublishes the broad medieval and Latin field.
034
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 933supportsestablished
figure → figure
Present-Day English → Middle English · continuation
- 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.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Etymology and First Known Use, nounPublishes the Middle English range and thirteenth-century horizon.
EDGE 934supportsestablished
figure → figure
Middle English → Anglo-French · borrowing
- SOUND
- Middle English borrows Anglo-French figure with English phonological adaptation.
- MEANING
- The shape, form, likeness, and symbol field is retained.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Etymology: Middle English from Anglo-FrenchPublishes the immediate borrowing channel.
EDGE 935supportsestablished
figure → figūra
Anglo-French → Latin · borrowing
- SOUND
- Anglo-French figure continues Latin figūra through Romance transmission.
- MEANING
- Shape, outward appearance, likeness, and represented form remain central.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Etymology: Anglo-French from Latin figūraPublishes the French-to-Latin step.
EDGE 943supportsproposed
figūra → fingere
Latin → Latin · competing derivation
- 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 / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Etymology: figūra from fig-, stem of fingere, plus -ūraPublishes the verb-stem analysis.
041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
figureSOURCE-REPORTED
figure
Merriam-Webster first-known-use report for figure
OPEN WITNESS 194 ↗050
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
No comparative-relative record currently cites this source.
062
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 2supports
Latin-speaking world
Publishes the Latin stage.
Latin figūra senses and formation · broadstage 3supports
Medieval France and England
Publishes the medieval route and century-level bound.
Anglo-French channel; First Known Use in the 13th century · regional070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
081
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
3 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.