Figured

How to spell figured

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce figured

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does figured mean?

1. verbPast tense of figure: worked something out, concluded, or reckoned.
2. adjectiveDecorated with a woven or ornamental pattern, as of fabric or wood.

Figured in a sentence

• verb

  She figured the train would be late, so she left early.

• adjective

  The curtains were made from heavy figured silk.

• verb

  After staring at the bill, he finally figured out the error.

• adjective

  The cabinet was built from richly figured walnut.

Where does figured come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past tense and past participle of the verb 'figure', which traces back to the Latin noun figura, meaning 'a shape, form, or outline'. That Latin word was built on the verb fingere, 'to shape, mould, or fashion', the same root that gives us 'fiction' (something shaped or invented) and 'effigy'. English took 'figure' from Old French in the 1200s, at first meaning a shape or numeral, and over the centuries it grew the sense of 'to work out by calculation' and then, especially in North American usage, 'to conclude or reckon'. The added '-ed' simply marks the past, but the silent settling of the 'gure' ending is where writers can stumble, since the spoken word sounds like 'fig-erd' with no obvious clue to the 'u'.

How the word is built

• figure (from Latin figura: shape, form)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)