different between figure vs style

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

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English stile, stel, stele, stiel, stiele, stil, still, stille, styele, style, styill, styll, styyl (“writing tool, stylus; piece of written work; characteristic mode of expression, particularly one regarded as high quality; demeanour, manner, way of life; person's designation or title; stem of a plant; period of time”), from Old French style, estile, stil, stile (modern French style), or from Medieval Latin stylus, both from Latin stilus (“pointed instrument, pale, spike, stake; writing tool, stylus; act of setting down in writing, composition; characteristic mode of expression, style; stem of a plant”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to pierce, prick, puncture, stab; to goad”). Doublet of stylus.

The English word is cognate with Catalan estil (“engraving tool, stylus; gnomon; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace”), German Stiel (“handle; stalk”), Italian stilo (“needle, stylus; fountain pen; beam; gnomon; part of pistil, style”), Occitan estil, Portuguese estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style”), Spanish estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace; part of pistil, style”).

The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: st?l, IPA^(key): /sta?l/
• Homophone: stile
• Rhymes: -a?l

Noun

style (countable and uncountable, plural styles)

1. Senses relating to a thin, pointed object.
   1. (historical) A sharp stick used for writing on clay tablets or other surfaces; a stylus; (by extension, obsolete) an instrument used to write with ink; a pen.
   2. A tool with a sharp point used in engraving; a burin, a graver, a stylet, a stylus.
   3. The gnomon or pin of a sundial, the shadow of which indicates the hour.
   4. (botany) The stalk that connects the stigma(s) to the ovary in a pistil of a flower.

      Synonym: stylet
   5. (surgery) A kind of surgical instrument with a blunt point, used for exploration.

      Synonym: stylet

   6. (zoology) A small, thin, pointed body part.

      Synonym: stylet

      1. (entomology) A long, slender, bristle-like process near the anal region.

2. (by extension from sense 1.1) A particular manner of expression in writing or speech, especially one regarded as good.
   1. A legal or traditional term or formula of words used to address or refer to a person, especially a monarch or a person holding a post or having a title.
3. A particular manner of creating, doing, or presenting something, especially a work of architecture or art.
   1. A particular manner of acting or behaving; (specifically) one regarded as fashionable or skilful; flair, grace.
   2. A particular way in which one grooms, adorns, dresses, or carries oneself; (specifically) a way thought to be attractive or fashionable.
   3. (computing) A visual or other modification to text or other elements of a document, such as boldface or italics.
   4. (printing, publishing) A set of rules regarding the presentation of text (spelling, typography, the citation of references, etc.) and illustrations that is applied by a publisher to the works it produces.

Alternative forms

• stile (obsolete)
• stylee (music, slang)

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ????
• ? Korean: ??? (seutail)

Related terms

• stylus

Translations

See also

• substance

Verb

style (third-person singular simple present styles, present participle styling, simple past and past participle styled)

1. (transitive) To design, fashion, make, or arrange in a certain way or form (style)
2. (transitive, formal) To call or give a name or title to.

   Synonyms: designate, dub, name; see also Thesaurus:denominate
3. (transitive, informal) To create for, or give to, someone a style, fashion, or image, particularly one which is regarded as attractive, tasteful, or trendy.
4. (intransitive, US, informal) To act in a way which seeks to show that one possesses style.

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• stile (obsolete)

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• style (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• lyest, tyles

French

Alternative forms

• stile (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French stile, from Old French estile, borrowed from Latin stilus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stil/

Noun

style m (plural styles)

1. style (manner of doing something)
2. (botany) style (of a flower)
3. fashion, trend, style
4. (colloquial) style (personal comportment)
5. flair
6. (art) style; method characteristic of an artist; artistic manner or characteristic by which an artistic movement may be defined
7. gnomon, style (needle of a sundial)
8. (dated, historical) stylus, style (implement for writing on tablets)
9. complement of jargon particular to a field; style (manner of writing specific to a field or discipline)
10. sort, type; category of things

Synonyms

• (manner of doing): façon, manière
• (artistic characteristic): genre
• (needle of a sundial): aiguille (d'un cadran), gnomon
• (stylus): stylet
• (category): espèce, genre, sorte, type

Derived terms

Further reading

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

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English sti?el.

Noun

style

1. Alternative form of stile (“stile”)

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin stylus.

Noun

style

1. Alternative form of stile (“style”)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?st?.l?/

Noun

style

1. plural of styl
2. accusative plural of styl
3. vocative plural of styl

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English style.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /is.?taj.li/, /?staj.li/, /i?.?taj.li/

Adjective

style (invariable, comparable)

1. (Brazil, slang) stylish