Online Etymology Dictionary

figure (n.): early 13c., from O.Fr. figure, from L. figura "a shape, form, figure," from PIE *dheigh- "to form, build" (see dough); originally in English with meaning "numeral," but sense of "form, likeness" is almost as old (mid-13c.). The verb meaning "to picture in the mind" is from c.1600. Related: Figured; figuring. Philosophical and scientific senses are from L. figura being used to translate Gk. skhema. The rhetorical use of figure dates to late 14c.; hence figure of speech (1824).
figurehead: 1765, from figure + head. Originally the ornament on the bow of a ship; sense of "leader without real authority" is first attested 1883.
trope: 1533, from L. tropus "a figure of speech," from Gk. tropos "turn, direction, turn or figure of speech," related to trope "a turning" and trepein "to turn," from PIE base trep- "to turn" (cf. Skt. trapate "is ashamed, confused," prop. "turns away in shame;" L. trepit "he turns"). Technically, in rhetoric, a figure of speech which consists in the use of a word or phrase in a sense other than that which is proper to it.
scheme (n.): 1553, "figure of speech," from M.L. schema "shape, figure, form, figure of speech," from Gk. skhema (gen. skhematos) "figure, appearance, the nature of a thing," related to skhein "to get," and ekhein "to have," from PIE base *segh- "to hold, to hold in one's power, to have" (cf. Skt. sahate "he masters," sahah "power, victory;" Avestan hazah "power, victory;" Gk. ekhein "to have, hold;" Goth. sigis, O.H.G. sigu, O.N. sigr, O.E. sige "victory"). The sense "program of action" first is attested 1647. Unfavorable overtones (selfish, devious) began to creep in early 18c. The verb, in the sense of "devise a scheme," was first recorded 1767. Color scheme is attested from 1884.
disfigure: late 14c., from O.Fr. desfigurer, from M.L. diffigurare, from L. dis- (see dis-) + figura "figure," from figurare "to figure" (see figure). Related: Disfigured; disfigurement.
Uncle Sam: symbol of the United States of America, 1813, coined during the war with Britain as a contrast to John Bull, and no doubt suggested by the initials U.S. "[L]ater statements connecting it with different government officials of the name of Samuel appear to be unfounded" [OED]. The common figure of Uncle Sam began to appear in political cartoons c.1850. Only gradually superseded earlier Brother Jonathan (1776), largely through the popularization of the figure by cartoonist Thomas Nast. British in World War I sometimes called U.S. soldiers Sammies.
baboon: type of ape, c.1400, babewyn, earlier "a grotesque figure used in architecture or decoration" (early 14c.), from Fr. babouin "baboon," from O.Fr. baboin "ape," earlier "simpleton, dimwit, fool" (13c.), also "gaping figure (such as a gargoyle)," so probably from O.Fr. baboue "grimacing;" or perhaps it is imitative of the ape's babbling speech-like cries. Ger. Pavian "baboon" is from Du. baviaan, from M.Du. baubijn, a borrowing of the O.Fr. word.
contrive: early 14c., from O.Fr. controver "to find out, contrive, imagine," from V.L. contropare "to compare" (via a figure of speech), from L. com- "with" + tropus "song, musical mode," from Gk. tropos "figure of speech" (see trope). Sense evolution (in French) was from "invent with ingenuity" to "invent falsely." Related: Contrived (c.1400); contriving (early 14c.); contrivance (1620s).
trapezoid: 1706, "a trapezium," from Mod.L. trapezoides, from Late Gk. trapezoeides (Proclus), special use by Euclid of Gk. trapezoeides "trapezium-shaped," from trapeza, lit. "table" (see trapezium), + -oeides "shaped." Technically, a quadrilateral figure with no two sides parallel. But in Eng. since c.1800, often confused with trapezium in its sense of "a quadrilateral figure having only two sides parallel."
figurine: 1854, dim. of figure.
lutz: "skating jump," 1938, alt. of name of Austrian figure skater Alois Lutz (1898–1918), who invented it.
stripling: "a youth," late 14c., possibly from strip (n.) "long, narrow piece," on the notion of "one who is slender as a strip, whose figure is not yet filled out."
suss (v.): "to figure out, investigate and discover," 1966, earlier "to suspect" (1953, police jargon), a slang shortening of suspect (v.).
dummy: 1598, "mute person," from dumb (q.v.). Extended by 1845 to "figure representing a person." Used in card games (originally whist) since 1736.
type (n.): c.1470, "symbol, emblem," from L. typus "figure, image, form, kind," from Gk. typos "dent, impression, mark, figure, original form," from root of typtein "to strike, beat," from PIE base *(s)teu- "to strike, cut, hew" (see steep (adj.)). Extended 1713 to printing blocks with letters carved on them. The meaning "general form or character of some kind, class" is first in Eng. 1843, though it had that sense in L. and Gk. The verb meaning "to write with a typewriter" is attested from 1888. Typewriter in the mechanical sense is attested from 1868; typist is recorded from 1843. Typeface first attested 1887. Type-cast (adj. and v.) with ref. to actors is recorded from 1946, perhaps a deliberate pun on the verbal phrase in the print type founding sense (attested from 1847). To be someone's type "be the sort of person that person is attracted to" is recorded from 1934.
poppet: "small human figure used in witchcraft and sorcery," c.1300, early form of puppet (q.v.). Meaning "small or dainty person" is recorded from late 14c.; later a term of endearment.
bottom line: fig. sense is attested from 1967, from profit and loss accounting, where the final figure after both are calculated is the bottom line on the page. Also (esp. as an adj.) bottomline.
manikin: 1570, "jointed figure used by artists," from Du. manneken, lit. "little man," dim. of man (n.).
spread-eagle: lit. "splayed eagle," 1570, a heraldic term; the figure is that of the seal of the United States (hence spreadeagleism "extravagant laudation of the U.S.," 1858). Meaning "person secured with arms and legs stretched out" (originally to be flogged) is attested from 1785.
onnagata: in Kabuki and similar drama, a man who plays female roles, 1901, from Jap., from onna "woman" + kata "figure."
outline: 1662, "lines by which a figure is delineated," from out + line (v.). Meaning "rough draft in words" is from 1759. The verb is first attested 1790.
lune: figure formed by two arcs of circles, 1704, from L. luna "moon" (see luna).
hendiadys: 1586, figure of speech in which two nouns joined by and are used in place of a noun and an adj.; from M.L. alteration of Gk. hen dia duoin "one (thing) by means of two." If this term was used by Gk. grammarians it is no longer found in their writings, but it is frequent among L. writers.
scarecrow: 1550s, from scare + crow. Earliest reference is to a person employed to scare birds. Stick-figure sense is implied by 1580s.
Choctaw: 1722, from Choctaw Chahta, of uncertain meaning, but also said to be from Sp. chato "flattened," for the tribe's custom of flattening the heads of male infants. As a figure skating step, first recorded 1892.
figment: early 15c., from L. figmentum "something formed or fashioned, creation," related to figura "shape" (see figure (n.)).
nook: c.1300, noke, of unknown origin. Possibly connected with Norw. dial. nokke "hook, bent figure," or O.E. hnecca "neck," but the sense evolution would be difficult.
chattel: early 13c., chatel "property, goods," from O.Fr. chatel (see cattle, which is the Norman-Picard form of the same word). Application to slaves (1640s) is a rhetorical figure of abolitionists, etc.
prism: 1570, a type of solid figure, from L.L. prisma (Martianus Capella), from Gk. prisma (Euclid), lit. "something sawed," from prizein "to saw." Meaning in optics is first attested 1612.
Aldine: type font, 1837, from Aldus Manutius (1450-1515), Venetian printer who used it in his popular editions of Gk. and Roman classics. His name is a L. form of It. Aldo Manuzio, short for Teobaldo. The device characteristic of Aldine books is a figure of a dolphin on an anchor.
hyperbaton: 1579, "figure of speech in which the natural order of words or phrases is inverted, especially for the sake of emphasis," from Gk. hyperbaton, lit. "overstepping," from hyper "over" + bainein "to step" (see come).
asterisk: late 14c., from L.L. asteriscus, from Gk. asterikos "little star," dim. of aster "star" (see astro-). The meaning "figure used in printing and writing to indicate footnote, omission, etc." first recorded 1610s.
triskelion: "figure consisting of three branchess radiating from a center," 1880, earlier triskelos (1857), from Gk. triskeles "three-legged," from tri- "three" + skelos "leg" (see scalene).
relief (2): "projection of figure or design from a flat surface," 1606, from It. rilievo, from rilevare "to raise," from L. relevare "to raise, lighten" (see relieve).
caryatid: 1563, "carved female figure used as a column," from M.Fr. cariatide, from L. caryatides, from Gk. Karyatides "priestess of Artemis at Caryae" (Gk. Karyai), a town in Laconia where dance festivals were held in Artemis' temple.
configure: late 14c., from L. configurare "to fashion after a pattern," from con- "together" + figurare "to shape" (see figure).
decussate: 1650s, from L. decussat-, pp. stem of decussare "to cross in the form of an 'X,'" from decussis "the figure 'ten'" (in Roman numerals, represented by X) from decem "ten."
perimeter: 1592, "line around a figure or surface," from L. perimetros, from Gk. perimetros "circumference," from peri- "around" + metron "measure" (see meter (2)). Military sense of "boundary of a defended position" is attested from 1943.
icon: 1570s, "image, figure, representation," from L.L. icon, from Gk. eikon "likeness, image, portrait," related to eikenai "be like, look like." Eastern Church sense is attested from 1833. Computing sense first recorded 1982.
calisthenics: 1847 (calisthenic is from 1839), formed on model of Fr. callisthenie, from Gk. kallos "beauty" + sthenos "strength" + -ics. Originally, gymnastic exercises suitable for girls and meant to develop the figure and promote graceful movement. The proper Gk., if there was such a word in Gk., would have been *kallistheneia.
specter: 1605, from Fr. spectre "an image, figure, ghost" (16c.), from L. spectrum "appearance, vision, apparition" (see spectrum). Spectral is attested from 1815 in the sense of "ghostly" (first recorded in Shelley); 1832 in sense of "of or pertaining to a spectrum."
figurative: late 14c., from Fr. figuratif, from L.L. figurativus, from figurare (see figure). Of speech, language, etc., "involving figures of speech," from 1845. Related: Figuratively.
prefiguration: late 14c., from L.L. præfigurationem (nom. præfiguratio), c.400, noun of action from præfigurare "to prefigure," from L. præ "before" + figurare "to form, shape" (see figure).
oxymoron: 1657, from Gk. oxymoron, noun use of neut. of oxymoros (adj.) "pointedly foolish," from oxys "sharp" (see acrid) + moros "stupid." Rhetorical figure by which contradictory terms are conjoined so as to give point to the statement or expression; the word itself is an illustration of the thing. Now often used loosely to mean "contradiction in terms."
tetrahedron: solid figure contained by four triangular surfaces, 1570, from Late Gk. tetraedron, originally neuter of tetraedros (adj.) "four-sided," from tetra- "four" + hedra "seat, base, chair, face of a geometric solid," from PIE base *sed- "to sit" (see sedentary).
prosopopeia: 1561, from Gk. prosopopoiia "the putting of speeches into the mouths of others," from prosopon "person, face" (lit. "that which is toward the eyes," from pros "to" + ops "eye, face") + poiein "make" (see poet). A rhetorical figure in which an imaginary or absent person is made to speak or act.
Bildungsroman: 1910, from Ger. Bildungsroman, from Bildung "education, formation, growth" (from Bild "picture, image, figure;" O.H.G. bilade) + roman "novel" (see romance). A novel set in the formative years, or the time of spiritual education, of the main character.
quadrangle: c.1430, from O.Fr. quadrangle (13c.), from L.L. quadrangulum "four-sided figure," prop. neut. of L. adj. quadrangulus "having four quarters," from L. quattuor "four" (see four) + angulus "angle." The shortened form quad for "quadrangle of a college," is first recorded 1820 in Oxford slang.
burr: "rough sound of the letter -r-" (especially that common in Northumberland), 1760, later extended to "northern accented speech" in general. Possibly the sound of the word is imitative of the speech peculiarity itself, or it was adapted from one of the senses of bur (q.v.), perhaps from the phrase to have a bur in (one's) throat (late 14c.), which was a figure of speech for "feel a choking sensation, huskiness." The Scottish -r- is a lingual trill, not a true burr.
hourglass: 1510s, from hour + glass. Used 19c. in a variety of technical and scientific senses to describe the shape; reference to women's bodies is attested by 1897.
"Men condemn corsets in the abstract, and are sometimes brave enough to insist that the women of their households shall be emancipated from them; and yet their eyes have been so generally educated to the approval of the small waist, and the hourglass figure, that they often hinder women who seek a hygienic style of dress." [Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, "The Story of My Life," 1898]