effigy

[ ef-i-jee ]

noun

, plural ef·fi·gies.

1. a representation or image, especially sculptured, as on a monument.
2. a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule.

effigy

/ ɪˈfɪdʒɪəl; ˈɛfɪdʒɪ /

noun

1. a portrait of a person, esp as a monument or architectural decoration
2. a crude representation of someone, used as a focus for contempt or ridicule and often hung up or burnt in public (often in the phrases burn or hang in effigy )

Derived Forms

• effigial, adjective

Other Words From

• ef·fig·i·al [ih-, fij, -ee-, uh, l], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of effigy¹

1530–40; (< Middle French ) < Latin effigia, equivalent to effig- ( ef- ef- + fig- shape, form; figure ) + -ia -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of effigy¹

C18: from Latin effigiēs, from effingere to form, portray, from fingere to shape

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in effigy, in public view in the form of an effigy:

   a leader hanged in effigy by the mob.

More idioms and phrases containing effigy

see in effigy .

Example Sentences

Each society spends months producing an effigy - or tableau - which are paraded through the streets and then burned at the bonfire sites.

From BBC

Six different bonfire societies are holding processions through the East Sussex town and spectators will watch as huge effigies are paraded through the streets.

From BBC

These modern effigies to mass production and over-consumption carry their own history, gained from both the seller in need and the tourist who purchases them.

From Los Angeles Times

Anti-Chessman crowds burned Brown in effigy and booed him and his family in public.

From Los Angeles Times

Some see Crowther as an unfairly maligned man of his time, and his effigy as an important part of the state’s history, warts and all.

From BBC

Related Words

• likeness
• statue