‖ figura
(fɪˈgjʊərə)
[mod.L., ad. L. figūra figure n.]
1. Theol. = type n.1 Cf. figure n. 12.
| 1959 Manheim & Garvin tr. Auerbach's Sc. fr. Drama Europ. Lit. 34 Moses is no less historical and real because he is an umbra or figura of Christ. |
2. Literary. A person who represents some higher or supervening reality.
| 1959 Manheim & Garvin tr. Auerbach's Sc. fr. Drama Europ. Lit. 71 Virgil in the Divine Comedy is the historical Virgil himself, but then again he is not; for the historical Virgil is only a figura of the fulfilled truth that the poem reveals. 1968 Eng. Studies XLIX. 404 The poet..wants us to connect the Troy legend with the theme of his poem and to see in Aeneas a figura of his own hero. |
b. An act or deed that is representative or symbolic.
| 1959 Manheim & Garvin tr. Auerbach's Sc. fr. Drama Europ. Lit. 66 Cato's voluntary choice of death rather than political servitude is here introduced as a figura for the eternal freedom of the children of God. 1964 Eng. Studies XLV. 111 His [sc. Orsino's] sudden dismissal of the music..is a figura that sets the pattern of his behaviour. |