Etymograph

English

effigy

Effigy comes from Latin effigiēs ‘likeness, effigy’, from effingō ‘represent, portray’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to form, to shape’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-‘to form, to shape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰinéǵʰti‘to form, shape’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θingōreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*fingō‘to knead, form’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingō‘shape, fashion, form’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEeffingō‘represent, portray’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEeffigiēs‘likeness, effigy’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presenteffigie
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1906effigy

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-‘to form, to shape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰinéǵʰti‘to form, shape’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θingōreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*fingō‘to knead, form’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfingō‘shape, fashion, form’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEeffingō‘represent, portray’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEeffigiēs‘likeness, effigy’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presenteffigie
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1906effigy

Earliest quotation: 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett: “All around, terrace by terrace, there went marble lawns…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to form, to shape’

lady, figure, paradise, dairy, dough, faint, dey, 25 more

through Proto-Italic *fingō ‘to knead, form’

nonfiction, 17 more

through Latin fingō ‘shape, fashion, form’

fiction, fictitious, feint, feign, figment, 18 more

Today it means

noun A dummy or other crude representation of a person, group or object that is hated.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- / effigy

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