figmentn.
/ˈfɪɡm(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˈfɪɡmənt/ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [noun] > fashioning, shaping, or forming > that which is formed
shaping1340
fiction1579
figment1592
formation1646
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > modelling > [noun] > model
figment1592
model1613
stookiea1828
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 34v The excellencie, dilicatnes and perfection of this figment and woorkmanshippe cannot be suffi[ci]entlie expressed.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 123 Some are of opinion that this Achænie Hart was but an inuention or figment made in bred.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity viii. 24 This Statue is become the..eternal God of Heaven and Earth..though it be really a mere figment.
2. A product of fictitious invention.
a. An invented statement, story, doctrine, etc. †In early use also: A fraudulent device.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > [noun] > fraudulent device
figment?a1475
cogc1555
fraud1658
joker1858
gold brick1865
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > [noun] > an invention, fiction, story
fablec1300
fantasy1362
feigning1388
invention?a1513
story?1531
finctionc1540
figment1577
fingure1593
fiction1599
knavigation1613
flam1632
gun1720
novel1764
fabrication1790
fudge1797
gag1805
myth1840
make-up1844
concoction1885
fictionalization1954
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 177 [The Greeks] reteyne to them the figmentes of Sinonis, the fallace of Vlixes.
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. iii. xxii. 50 The fond figments of hereticall persons.
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor iv. iii. sig. Mv Deli... I heard he was to meet your Worship here. Punt. You heard no Figment sir, I doe expect him. View more context for this quotation
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) ii. xxiv. 9 It is a sin to lie, even for Gods cause, and to defend even his justice with false tales and figments.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. 340 From this abuse of terms the silly figment took its rise.
1862 W. M. Thackeray in Cornhill Mag. Feb. 250 Have we..invented a monstrous figment about going to shoot pheasants with Mac in the morning?
1874 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xvii. 516 Royal prerogative was not..a figment of theorists.
b. Something which exists only as an arbitrarily framed notion of the mind. a figment of (the or one's) imagination.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > faint, imperfect idea > [noun] > unfounded
fancy1471
idea1593
conception1614
figment1624
hypothesis1625
notional1653
unding1932
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > mental image, idea, or fancy > [noun] > imaginary form, fiction
fantasy1362
figurec1384
feigning1388
idol1577
idea1593
nonentity1604
figment1624
spectre1708
1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 33 We have..great reason to reject it, as a figment of mans braine.
1665 J. Glanvill Sciri Tuum: Authors Defense 71 in Scepsis Scientifica Therefore [space] has a kind of being, that is no arbitrary figment.
1744 G. Berkeley Siris (ESTC T72826) §335 Beauty, virtue, and such like are not figments of the mind.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. x. 277 The long dishevelled hair, the swelled black face, the exaggerated stature, were figments of imagination.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues I. 651 We must not conceive that this logical figment had ever a real existence.
1877 E. Caird Crit. Acct. Philos. Kant ii. xii. 484 A self-conscious being..existing alone in an unconscious world, is a figment of abstraction.
1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Mar. 79/1 This condition is almost certainly a figment of the imagination.
1971 Nature 2 Apr. 299/3 Another attempt..to read into prehistoric monuments..patterns and explanations which are simply figments of the observer's imagination.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.?a1475