Effigy, a noun, is an image or representation, particularly a crude figure of someone disliked or hated. It originates from the Latin word for 'likeness' or 'image.'
Effigy is a noun referring to an image or representation, especially a crude figure of a hated person. It derives from the Latin 'effigies,' meaning 'likeness' or 'image,' which comes from the verb 'to form.'
| Word | effigy |
|---|---|
| Date | June 24, 2018 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | EFF-uh-jee |
| Etymology | An earlier sense of effigy is "a likeness of a person shaped out of stone or other materials," so it's not surprising to learn that effigy derives, by way of Middle French, from the Latin effigies, which, in turn, comes from the verb effingere ("to form"), a combination of the prefix ex- and fingere, which means "to shape." Fingere is the common ancestor of a number of other English nouns that name things you can shape. A fiction is a story you shape with your imagination. Figments are shaped by the imagination, too; they're something you imagine or make up. A figure can be a numeral, a shape, or a picture that you shape as you draw or write. |
| Examples | "At one meeting, he remembers, the leader of a competing company was hung in effigy as employees cheered." — Evan Bush, The Seattle Times, 25 Feb. 2018 "On the gathering's penultimate day, the giant effigy—or Man, as it is known—is set ablaze during a raucous, joyful celebration." — John Rogers and Janie Har, The Chicago Sun-Times, 28 Apr. 2018 |
| Definition | : an image or representation especially of a person; especially : a crude figure representing a hated person |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Bagpipes skirl june verb musical instrument sense skerl
Previous card: Amortize gradually latin meaning word cost asset reduce
Up to card list: Word of the Day