Figure v. World English Historical Dictionary

Figure v. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1901, rev. 2022. Figure v. [f. prec. sb.; cf. OF. (and mod.Fr.) figurer (= Pr. and Sp. figurar, It. figurare, ad. L. figūrāre, f. figūra FIGURE sb.), which is probably the source of some of the senses.]

1   † 1.  trans. To give figure to; to form, shape; to bring into shape. Obs.

2 a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 2151. The faireste fygured folde that fygurede was ever.

3 1555.  Eden, Decades (Arb.), 293. The damme with continuall lyckynge, by lyttle and lyttle figurethe the informe byrthe.

4 1645.  Evelyn, Mem. (1819), I. 186. We entred into St. Marc’s Church, before which stand two brasse piedestals exquisitely cast and figur’d.

5 c. 1790.  Imison, Elements of Science and Art, II. 155. The bed of hones should be … very little larger than the metal intended to be figured upon it.

6   † b.  With complement: To shape into; also to shape into (a specified form). Obs.

7 c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, I. lxxii. (1869), 42. Flesh and blood it is in sooth, but bred it and wyn it is figured.

8 1626.  Bacon, Sylva, § 352. Some [shining wood] was found to be Firme and Hard; So as it might be figured into a Crosse, or into Beads, &c.

9   2.  To represent in a diagram or picture.

10 c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 456. Þo holy Trinity in no manere schulde be worschippid, fygurid, fourmed, ne peyntid, in þat fourme by whiche comynly hit is peyntid.

11 c. 1391.  Chaucer, Astrol., I. § 9. Next this folwyth the Cercle of the Dayes, that ben figured in maner of degrees, that contienen in noumbre 365.

12 c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, IV. ii. (1869), 175. Ordeyned j haue that peynted it [the beste] be heere and figured.

13 c. 1500.  Melusine, 364. Ryche pictures where as were fygured many a noble hystory.

14 1591.  Spenser, Muiop., 277.        Arachne figur’d how Iove did abuse Europa like a bull, and on his backe Her through the sea did beare.

15 1776.  Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), IV. 111. Fucus fastigiatus of Wulfen, figured in Jacq. coll. iii. 14. 2, is perhaps the plant of Linnæus.

16 1814.  Wordsw., White Doe of Ryl., II. 20.        The sacred Cross; and figured there The five dear wounds our Lord did bear.

17 1851.  Carpenter, Man. Phys. (ed. 2), 531. In the Perch, whose Encephalon is here figured, their size is intermediate between that of the first and third pairs.

18 1882.  Minchin, Unipl. Kinemat., 17. The history of the disturbances at different points at the same time is therefore represented by some such curve as that figured.

19   b.  To trace, mark (a design, letter, etc.).

20 1526.  Tindale, 2 Cor. iii. 7. The ministracion of deeth thorowe the letters figured in stones was glorius.

21 1801.  Southey, Thalaba, V. xii.                  Whose windows lay in light, And of their former shape, low arch’d or square,             Rude outline on the earth         Figured, with long grass fringed.

22   3.  To picture in the mind; to imagine. Const. with simple compl. and object clause.

23   (Sometimes to figure to oneself: cf. F. se figurer.)

24 1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., I. ii. 53. 1 Gent. Thou art alwayes figuring diseases in me; but thou art full of error, I am sound.

25 1637.  Nabbes, Microcosm., III.                I am transform’d into a happiness Cannot be figured.

26 1718.  Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. (1861), I. 367. He had rather die than submit to this slavery, having already figured his bride to himself with all the deformities in nature.

27 1760.  H. Walpole, Corr. (ed. 3), III. cccxlvii. 332. You cannot figure a duller season.

28 1831.  Carlyle, Sart. Res. (1858), i. 2. In all speculations they have tacitly figured man as a Clothed Animal; whereas he is by nature a Naked Animal; and only in certain circumstances, by purpose and device, masks himself in Clothes. Ibid. (1851), Sterling, I. iv. (1872), 27. I figure him a brilliant, swift, voluble, affectionate and pleasant creature; out of whom, if it were not that symptoms of delicate health already show themselves, great things might be made.

29 1868.  Airy, Pop. Astron., iii. 123. There is no difficulty at all in figuring to ourselves, as the ancients supposed, that [etc.].

30 1886.  Mrs. Lynn Linton, Paston Carew, III. xiii. 279. Pandora’s box was opened for him, and all the pains and griefs his imagination had ever figured were abroad.

31   4.  To portray or represent by speech or action.

32 1475.  The Boke of Noblesse, 21. Aventurous dedis that Hercules, as it is figured and made mencion in the vijthe metre of the the .v. booke of Boecius, toke uppon him.

33 1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., I. ii. 194. Anne. I would I knew thy heart. Glo. ’Tis figur’d in my tongue.

34 1634.  Ford, P. Warbeck, I. i.                        Thy heart Is figur’d on thy tongue.

35 a. 1668.  ? Davenant, in Dryden, Prose Wks., 1800. I. II. 214. An heroic poem should be … like a glass of nature, figuring a more practicable virtue to us than was done by the ancients.

36 1894.  R. H. Sherard, in Westm. G., 13 June, 2/1. The aficionados do all in their power to figure a Spanish audience … but these simulated enthusiasms have but a hollow ring.

37   † 5.  ‘To prefigure, foreshow’ (J.). Obs.

38 1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., II. i. 32.        Three glorious Sunnes, each one a perfect Sunne … In this, the Heauen figures some euent.

39   6.  To be an image, symbol, or type of; to represent typically.

40 1401.  Political Poems (Rolls), II. 63.        Ffor there is maad mencion of two perfit lyves, that actif and contemplatif comounli ben callid, ffulli figurid by Marie and Martha hir sister.

41 1447.  Bokenham, Seyntys (Roxb.), 10.        These sexe vertuhs be fyguryd mystyly   In the sexe wengys wych that Isaye   Of the cherubyns.

42 1450–1530.  Myrr. our Ladye, 250. The body of her blyssed sonne, whyche was fygured by the sayde arke, taken & fastened betwixte the nayles and the tre.

43 1604.  Dekker, King’s Entert., Wks. 1873, I. 280.        At his right hand was placed a Personage, figuring, The Counsell of the City.

44 1653.  H. Cogan, trans. Pinto’s Trav., xxxii. 129. This boy leaned on his elbow upon the Chaems chair, and figured mercy.

45 1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 593.        Soft Peace they figure, and sweet Plenty bring: Then Olives plant, and Hymns to Pallas sing.

46   † 7.  To display the form of; to exhibit a resemblance to. Obs.

47 1567.  J. Maplet, A Greene Forest, or a Naturall Historie, 34. Birdes tongue is an Herbe…. It figureth the tongue of a Birde, whereof it hath his name. In his top it figureth a taile to looke to.

48 1779.  Forrest, Voy. N. Guinea, 54. A high island called Ruib … which remarkably figures a cock’s comb, being a long indented ridge of a hill, with some white chalky spots upon it.

49   † 8.  To represent as resembling; to liken (a person or thing) to (another). Obs.

50 1393.  Gower, Conf., III. 118.          Taurus the seconde after this Of signes, which figured is Unto a bulle.

51 1520.  Caxton’s Chron. Eng., III. 24 b/1. This man was cursyd every ynche, and therfore he was fygured to Antecryst.

52 1523.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cccxcix. 691. Sermons made … figurynge them to the people of Israell, whome kynge Pharaon kepte long in seruytude.

53   9.  † a. To predicate in a metaphorical sense (obs.). b. To express by a metaphor or image.

54 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 922 (Ellesmere). Mariage is figured betwixe Crist and holy chirche.

55 1836.  Emerson, Nature, Prospects, Wks. (Bohn), II. 171. The difference between the actual and the ideal force of man is happily figured by the schoolmen, in saying, that the knowledge of man is an evening knowledge, vespertina cognitio, but that of God is a morning knowledge, matutina cognitio.

56 1857.  Buckle, Civiliz., I. vii. 225. That image of desolation under which the noble old man figured his immeasurable grief.

57   † 10.  To frame (a discourse) according to rhetorical figures; to adorn with figures of speech. Obs.

58 1652.  Urquhart, Jewel, Wks. (1834), 292–3s. Ironical … cromatick, or any other way of figuring a speech by opposition, being formules of oratory.

59 1727.  Bailey, vol. II., s.v. Figures (Theatrical), Orators … figure their Discourses.

60   11.  To adorn or mark with figures; to embellish or ornament with a design or pattern.

61 1480.  Wardr. Ace. Edw. IV. (1830), 116. Blue velvet figured with tawny.

62 1595.  Shaks., John, V. ii. 53.        Then had I seene the vaultie top of heauen Figur’d quite ore with burning Meteors.

63 1609.  Bible (Douay), Isa. xl. 19. Hath the goldsmith figured it with gold?

64 1725.  Pope, Odyss., IV. 807.                A goblet of capacious mold, Figur’d with art to dignify the gold.

65 1883.  Truth, XIII. 31 May, 769/2. The Court dress, of crimson satin, figured with velvet flowers, has a skirt of lilac satin covered with a point d’Alençon tunic, which was specially manufactured for the Empress Eugénie in 1870.

66   12.  a. trans. To mark with (numerical) figures; to express or indicate by figures. Also, † To figure (a sum of money) on (a person): (slang) to total up against.

67 1683.  Dryden & Lee, Duke of Guise, V. ii.        They dazl’d once, I cast a Mist before ’em, So what was figur’d Twelve, to thy dull sight Appear’d full Twenty one.

68 1773.  Gentl. Mag., XLIII. 654. His antagonist … figured on him (as his phrase is) at the game of two-handed whist, about £200.

69 1781.  Cowper, Lett. to J. Hill, 3 Oct. Your draft is worded for twenty pounds, and figured for twenty-one.

70   b.  intr. To use figures in arithmetic. Also trans. To figure up: to reckon up with figures. To figure out: see 15 c.

71 1854.  H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., iii. (1858), 52. He wrote and figured well, and knew a good deal about at least the theory of business.

72 1884.  Bread Winners, 245. I’ll figure it all up and take my pay.

73   c.  trans. Mus. To write figures over or under (the bass) in order to indicate the intended harmony. Cf. FIGURED ppl. a. 7.

74 1674.  Playford, Skill Mus., III. 5. You find here only mentioned and figured a third, fifth, and eighth.

75 1881.  G. A. Macfarren, Counterpoint, v. 20. It is recommended to figure the bass throughout these exercises.

76   13.  intr. Dancing. To perform a figure or set of evolutions (see FIGURE sb. 16). Also, to figure away, down, out (see 15 d).

77 1744.  Coll. Country Dances, 2. Foot it again and half figure.

78 1780.  Cowper, Progr. Err., 365.        We give some Latin and a smatch of Greek; Teach him to fence and figure twice a week.

79 1820.  W. Irving, Sketch Bk., Christmas Eve (1865), 251. The squire himself figured down several couple with a partner, with whom he affirmed he had danced at every Christmas for nearly half a century.

80 1828.  Longf., in Life (1891), I. 139. He likes to see the world happy around him; and I dare say has more than one passing regret that he cannot break that two-wheel chair of his and figure away in the dance with the best of them.

81   14.  intr. a. To make an appearance, to appear; often with as: To appear in the character of, stand for; also, to look like. † To figure for: (a) to pose as a claimant for, pretend to; (b) to stand for, represent. To figure in: to come upon the scene. Cf. FIGURE sb. 6.

82 1602.  Warner, Alb. Eng., X. lvii. (1612), 253.        And then the duke of Guize, who earst   Had figur’d for the crowne, Hence calculating hopes, did set   His bad designements downe.

83 1634.  D’Avenant, Temple of Love, Dram. Wks. 1872, I. 287. On the other side an Asiatique in the habit of an Indian borderer, riding on a camel; his turban and coat differing from that of the Turks, figured for the Asian monarchy.

84 1762.  Goldsm., Nash, 50. When he first figured at Bath, there were few laws against this destructive amusement [gaming].

85 1812.  H. & J. Smith, Rej. Addr., xvii. (1873), 162.        Till like great Jove, the leader figuring in, Attunes to order the chaotic din.

86 1815.  W. H. Ireland, Scribbleomania, 105–6, note. The gentleman mentioned in the above line formerly figured as shopman at an oil warehouse.

87 1826.  Disraeli, Viv. Grey, II. xiii. On the door of one of the shabbiest houses in Jermyn Street the name of Mr. Stapylton Toad for a long time figured. Ibid. (1837), Venetia, I. viii. The intervening woods figured as the forests of Thessaly.

88 1871.  Morley, Voltaire (1886), 11. His was one of the robust and incisive constitutions, to which doubt figures as a sickness, and where intellectual apprehension is an impossibility.

89 1893.  Law Times, XCIV. 454/1. Propositions of this kind will not figure upon the Statute-book yet awhile.

90   b.  To make a distinguished appearance; to be conspicuous or notable. Also, To figure away, off: to ‘show off.’ Cf. FIGURE sb. 7.

91 1736.  Bolingbroke, Patriot. (1749), iii. 233. Persons who figured afterwards in the rebellion.

92 1762.  Churchill, Ghost, IV.        Where Asgill held the foremost place, Whilst my lord figur’d at a race.

93 1771.  Mad. D’Arblay, Early Diary, 8 May (1889), I. 112. Dr. King, who had just taken the doctor’s degree, came in and figured away to his own satisfaction before Mr. Garrick.

94 1803.  T. Jefferson, Writ. (1830), III. 501. We shall get entangled in European politics, and figuring more, be much less happy and prosperous.

95 1812.  Foster, Let., 7 Feb., in Life & Corr. (1846), I. lxxxv. 426. Without obtaining, against the monopolists of the bar, even the opportunity of fairly figuring off in this jabber.

96 1814.  Chalmers, Evid. Chr. Revel., v. 147. Such a testimony would have figured away in all our elementary treatises.

97 1879.  Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 236/1. Yorkshire then begins to figure as a cloth-making county.

98   15.  Figure out.

99   † a.  trans. To display or exhibit in visionary forms or shapes. Also, To exhibit obscurely, shadow forth. Obs.

100 1602.  Daniel, Hymen’s Tri., III. ii.                        Gaue no time Either for me to answer her request, Or leaue for sleepe to figure out the rest.

101 1721.  R. Keith, trans. T. à Kempis’ Solil. Soul, xiii. 207. If therefore thou dost figure out by such a Document as this, somewhat which to us may be made to appear both just and reasonable, shew it unto me.

102   † b.  To portray, represent.

103 1657.  W. Rand, trans. Gassendi’s Life of Peiresc, I. 59. He never, that I ever read of, refused to suffer himself to be painted or figured out in a Statue.

104 1702.  Addison, Dialogues upon … Medals, Wks. 1721, I. 490. The Emperor appears as the Rising Sun, and holds a Globe in his hand, to figure out the Earth that is enlightned and actuated by his beauty.

105   c.  To work out (a sum) by means of figures.

106 1884.  Punch, LXXXVI. 15 March, 125/1. Nice whitewash, which always looked clean and cheerful, and on which you could write up anything you wanted to remember, or figure out a sum.

107   d.  intr. To step out and perform a figure in dancing.

108 1753.  Foote, Eng. in Paris, I., Wks. 1799, I. 36. When ’twas her turn to figure out, souse she flapp’d on her back.

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