different between figure vs orris

English

Etymology

From Middle English figure, borrowed from Old French figure, from Latin fig?ra (“form, shape, form of a word, a figure of speech, Late Latin a sketch, drawing”), from fing? (“to form, shape, mold, fashion”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?ey??- (“to mold, shape, form, knead”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ?????? (teîkhos), Sanskrit ?????? (degdhi), Old English d?g (“dough”). More at dough. Doublet of figura.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?f??j?/, /?f???/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f???/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?f???/, /?f??j?/
• Rhymes: -???(?), -??j?(?)
• Hyphenation: fig?ure

Noun

figure (plural figures)

1. A drawing or diagram conveying information.
2. The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modelling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body.

   a figure in bronze; a figure cut in marble
3. A person or thing representing a certain consciousness.
4. The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person.

   He cut a sorry figure standing there in the rain.

   • I made some figure there.

   • 1770, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England

     gentlemen of the best figure in the county

5. (obsolete) Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendour; show.
   • 1729, William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

     that he may live in figure and indulgence

6. A human figure, which dress or corset must fit to; the shape of a human body.
7. A numeral.
8. A number, an amount.
9. A shape.
10. A visible pattern as in wood or cloth.

    The muslin was of a pretty figure.

11. Any complex dance move^W.
12. A figure of speech.
13. (logic) The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.
14. (astrology) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

15. (music) Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression.
    • 1888, George Grove, Beethoven's Nine Symphonies: Analytical Essays

      Here, Beethoven limits the syncopations and modifications of rhythm which are so prominent in the first and third movements, and employs a rapid, busy, and most melodious figure in the Violins, which is irresistible in its gay and brilliant effect […]

16. (music) A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a motif; a florid embellishment.

Derived terms

Related terms

• figurine
• figurative
• figuratively

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ????? (figyua)

Translations

Verb

figure (third-person singular simple present figures, present participle figuring, simple past and past participle figured)

1. (chiefly US) To calculate, to solve a mathematical problem.
2. (chiefly US) To come to understand.

3. To think, to assume, to suppose, to reckon.
4. (chiefly US, intransitive) To be reasonable.

5. (intransitive) To enter into; to be a part of.
6. (obsolete) To represent by a figure, as to form or mould; to make an image of, either palpable or ideal; also, to fashion into a determinate form; to shape.
7. To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.
8. (obsolete) To indicate by numerals.
   • 1698 , John Dryden, Epitaph of Mary Frampton

     As through a crystal glass the figured hours are seen.

9. To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.
10. (obsolete) To prefigure; to foreshow.
11. (music) To write over or under the bass, as figures or other characters, in order to indicate the accompanying chords.
12. (music) To embellish.

Derived terms

• go figure
• prefigure
• figure on
• figure out (US)

Translations

Further reading

• figure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• figure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fig?ra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi.?y?/

Noun

figure f (plural figures)

1. face
2. figure

Synonyms

• visage

Derived terms

Further reading

• “figure” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ure

Noun

figure f

1. plural of figura

Portuguese

Verb

figure

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of figurar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of figurar
3. third-person singular negative imperative of figurar
4. third-person singular imperative of figurar

Spanish

Verb

figure

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of figurar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of figurar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of figurar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of figurar.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????s/

Etymology 1

Probably from iris, although the alteration of the vowel is unexplained.

Noun

orris (countable and uncountable, plural orrises)

1. Any of several irises that have a fragrant root, especially Iris × germanica.
2. The fragrant root of such an iris.
   • 1826, Samuel Adams, Sarah Adams, The Complete Servant, page 169,

     Drop twelve drops of genuine oil of rhodium on a lump of loaf-sugar ; grind this wel in a glass mortar, and mix it thoroughly with three pounds of orris powder.

   • 1998, Claire Kowalchik, William H. Hylton, Orris, entry in Rodale?s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs, page 406,

     Orris is the part of the florentine iris you don?t see — the rhizome. […] The ancient Egyptians and Greeks learned that the bland-smelling orris root would take on a remarkable fragrance if dried for at least two years.

   • 2000, Lady Sabrina, The Witch?s Master Grimoire, page 122,

     Next place your hair, the rose quartz, some of the orris root powder, and the candle drippings into the box.

Etymology 2

Contracted from orfrays, or from arras.

Noun

orris (countable and uncountable, plural orrises)

1. A type of gold or silver lace.
2. A pattern in which gold lace or silver lace is worked, especially one in which the edges are ornamented with conical figures placed at equal distances, with spots between them.