Etymograph

English

figment

Figment comes from Late Latin figmentum ‘anything made, a fiction’, from fingō ‘make, form, feign’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to mold’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-‘to mold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fingō‘to knead, form’reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfingō‘make, form, feign’
  4. Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEfigmentum‘anything made, a fiction’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1989figment

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeyǵʰ-‘to mold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fingō‘to knead, form’reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfingō‘make, form, feign’
  4. Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEfigmentum‘anything made, a fiction’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1989figment

Earliest quotation: 1989, R. McNeill Alexander: “He had not seen sarcomeres: these segments were a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to mold’

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

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

nonfiction, 17 more

through Late Latin fingō ‘make, form, feign’

fiction, fictitious, effigy, feign, feint, 18 more

Today it means

noun A fabrication, fantasy, invention; something fictitious.

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

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

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