Word of the Day

: November 16, 2008

effigy

noun EFF-uh-jee

What It Means

: an image or representation especially of a person; especially : a crude figure representing a hated person.

effigy in Context

A giant effigy is set ablaze at the climax of the annual Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

Did You Know?

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 from the Latin verb “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.