effigy
pronunciation
How to pronounce effigy in British English:
UK [ˈefɪdʒi]
How to pronounce effigy in American English:
US [ˈɛfədʒi]
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- Noun:
- a representation of a person (especially in the form of sculpture)
Word Origin
- 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.=> dairy, dough, faint, fiction, figment
- effigy (n.)
- "image of a person," 1530s, from Middle French effigie (13c.), from Latin effigies "copy or imitation of something, likeness, image, statue," from or related to effingere "to mold, fashion, portray," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + fingere "to form, shape" (see fiction). The Latin word was regarded as plural and the -s was lopped off by 18c. Especially figures made of stuffed clothing; the burning or hanging of them is attested by 1670s. Formerly done by judicial authorities as symbolic punishment of criminals who had escaped their jurisdiction; later a popular expression against persons deemed obnoxious. Related: Effigial.
Example
- 1. That man to his effigy created .
- 2. At one rally after the unrest had been crushed , his effigy was burned .
- 3. Seldom does a day go by when I 'm not burned in effigy .
- 4. To celebrate us president obama 's visit to china , he made an effigy of obama in his honor .
- 5. Earlier this month in vicenza some 200 people , reportedly including elected representatives of the league , burned in effigy the military hero of italys unification , giuseppe garibaldi .