figurées

Figurées is the feminine plural past participle of the French verb figurer, meaning to figure, depict, or appear in a figure. In contemporary usage, figurées functions mainly as an adjective meaning depicted or represented, agreeing with the feminine plural noun it modifies (for example, images figurées, figures figurées). It is commonly found in art-historical writing, iconography, and descriptive prose to indicate that elements have been depicted rather than existing in reality.

Grammatical notes: figurées agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes. The full paradigm is figuré (masculine singular), figurée (feminine singular), figurés (masculine plural), figurées (feminine plural). When used as a past participle in compound tenses, French agreement rules apply in the usual way, with the participle potentially agreeing with a preceding direct object or with the subject in reflexive constructions, depending on the construction.

Origin and etymology: figurées derives from the Latin figura via the Old French figurer. The form retains the sense of representation or depiction carried by related words such as figure and figurer.

Context and usage: figurées is typical in captions, critical descriptions, and scholarly writing to specify that elements of an artwork, map, or text are depicted. It often appears in phrases like les figures figurées dans ce tableau or les images figurées par l’artiste. The term helps contrast depicted or conventional imagery with non-representational or abstract content. It is related to the broader noun figuration, which denotes the act or result of representing.

See also: figuration, figure, figurer.