| 释义 |
‖ figurant, n.|figyrɑ̃|
Also figurante |figyrɑ̃t| fem.
[Fr. figurant, figurante, pr. pple. of figurer to figure.
The pl. masc. was formerly sometimes written figurans. It is often impossible to determine whether figurante is intended for the F. or the It. word: see next.]
1. A ballet-dancer.
1790Combe Devil upon Two Sticks (1817) I. 126 The lascivious agility of his figurantes. 1807T. Horne tr. Goede's Trav. II. 264 The theatre at Paris..its statists and figurants. 1837Major Richardson Brit. Legion ii. (ed. 2) 42 A sort of ballet the figurans and figurantes in which were inmates of a mad-house. 1859Smiles Self-Help iii. (1860) 52 The poor figurante must devote years of incessant toil to her profitless task.
2. A supernumerary character on the stage who takes no prominent part, and has little or nothing to say.
1775H. Walpole Lett. (1857) VI. 195 Plays, in which comedians, singers, dancers, figurantes, might all walk at a coronation. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 342 The women can be little more than the figurantes, receiving a mock reverence merely to carry on the drama. 1886Athenæum 2 Jan. 15/1 [In the play] Shakspeare is a mere figurant.
transf.1893Nation 21 Sept. 211/2 They were but figurants in the great drama. |