effigy

effigy
\ \ [16] Effigy comes ultimately from the Latin verb effingere ‘form, portray’. This was a compound formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and fingere ‘make, shape’ (source of English faint, feign, fiction, figment, and related to English dairy and dough). It formed the basis of the noun effigiēs ‘representation, likeness, portrait’, which was borrowed into English in the 16th century as effigies: ‘If that you were the good Sir Rowland’s son, as you have whisper’d faithfully you were, and as mine eye doth his effigies witness most truly limn’d and living in your face, be truly welcome hither’, Shakespeare, As you like it 1600. By the 18th century, however, this had come to be regarded as a plural form, and so a new singular, effigy, was created.
\ \ Cf.⇒ DAIRY, DOUGH, FAINT, FICTION, FIGMENT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Effigy — Ef fi*gy, n.; pl. {Effigies}. [L. effigies, fr. effingere to form, fashion; ex + fingere to form, shape, devise. See {Feign}.] The image, likeness, or representation of a person, whether a full figure, or a part; an imitative figure; commonly… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • effigy — [ef′i jē] n. pl. effigies [Fr effigie < L effigies, a copy, image < effingere < ex , out + fingere, to form: see FIGURE] a portrait, statue, or the like, esp. of a person; likeness; often, a crude representation of a despised person burn …   English World dictionary

  • effigy — index counterpart (parallel), resemblance Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • effigy — 1530s, image of a person, from M.Fr. effigie (13c.), from L. effigies copy or imitation of something, likeness, from or related to effingere mold, fashion, portray, from ex out (see EX (Cf. ex )) + fingere to form, shape (see FICTION (Cf …   Etymology dictionary

  • effigy — *image, statue, icon, portrait, photograph, mask …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • effigy — [n] dummy figure, icon, idol, image, likeness, model, picture, portrait, puppet, representation, statue; concept 436 Ant. being, entity …   New thesaurus

  • effigy — ► NOUN (pl. effigies) ▪ a sculpture or model of a person. ORIGIN Latin effigies, from effingere to fashion …   English terms dictionary

  • Effigy — For other uses, see Effigy (disambiguation). Effigies redirects here. For the punk group, see The Effigies. Elizabethan tomb effigies of Sir Richard Lee (died 1591) and his wife in St Mary s Church, Acton Burnell, Shropshire …   Wikipedia

  • effigy — effigial /i fij ee euhl/, adj. /ef i jee/, n., pl. effigies. 1. a representation or image, esp. sculptured, as on a monument. 2. a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule. 3. in effigy, in public view in the form… …   Universalium

  • effigy — ef|fi|gy [ˈefıdʒi] n plural effigies [Date: 1500 1600; : Latin; Origin: effigies, from effingere to form ] 1.) a ↑statue of a famous person effigy of ▪ an effigy of Saint Francis 2.) …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • effigy — See: HANG IN EFFIGY or BURN IN EFFIGY …   Dictionary of American idioms

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