figura

Figura is a noun found in several Romance languages, notably Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. It derives from the Latin figura and shares a core sense of form, shape, or outline, as well as an image or representation. In these languages the term is polysemous and can correspond to the English words figure or shape, depending on context.

In geometry and design, figura denotes a geometric figure or shape; in the visual arts and anatomy, it can refer to the human figure or silhouette. In literature and rhetoric, figura can indicate a figure of speech or stylistic device, with terms such as figura retórica used to describe particular rhetorical techniques.

In social and cultural contexts, figura can designate a person or character, particularly in phrases like public figure (figura pública in Spanish and Italian). The term also functions in technical writing to label diagrams and illustrations, for example in captions such as Figura 1 or Figura 2 in Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese texts.

Overall, English uses the cognate figure as the common term, but figura remains a central word in Romance-language usage. Its meanings span geometry, art, anatomy, rhetoric, and social description, reflecting the broad sense of representation and form that the word embodies.