figure
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "figure", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "figure" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "figure" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
figure is aEnglishnoun. It means: A drawing or diagram conveying information. Pronounced /ˈfɪɡə/. It ranks #904 in English word frequency. Often confused with fire and fugue.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | figure |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɪɡə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #904 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for figure is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɪɡə/. Corpus data places it at rank #904 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for figure, with forms such as "ffigure", "fgiure", and "figgure". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "fire", "fugue", "future", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English figure, borrowed from Old French figure, from Latin figūra (“form, shape, form of a word, a figure of speech, Late Latin a sketch, drawing”), from fingō (“to form, shape, mold, fashion”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold, shap… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is figure, spelled F-I-G-U-R-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A drawing or diagram conveying information.
- 2The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modelling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body.
- 3A person or thing representing a certain consciousness.
- 4The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person.
- 5Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendour; show.
- 6A human figure, which dress or corset must fit to; the shape of a human body.
- 7A numeral.
- 8A number, an amount.
- 9A shape.
- 10A visible pattern as in wood or cloth.
- 11Any complex dance moveᵂ.
- 12A figure of speech.
- 13The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.
- 14A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.
- 15Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression.
- 16A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a motif; a florid embellishment.
Etymology
From Middle English figure, borrowed from Old French figure, from Latin figūra (“form, shape, form of a word, a figure of speech, Late Latin a sketch, drawing”), from fingō (“to form, shape, mold, fashion”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold, shape, form, knead”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τεῖχος (teîkhos), Sanskrit देग्धि (dégdhi), Old English dāg (“dough”). More at dough. Doublet of figura.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffigure,fgiure,figgure,figrue,figuer,figurre,fiugre,ifgure
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for figure
Misspelling Variants of "figure"
Frequency rank: #904 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index: