Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
FIGURE
I. noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin figura, from fingere
Date: 13th century
1. a number symbol ; numeral , digit , arithmetical calculations , a written or printed character, value especially as expressed in numbers ; sum , price , digits representing an amount (as of money earned or points scored) ,
2. a geometric form (as a line, triangle, or sphere) especially when considered as a set of geometric elements (as points) in space of a given number of dimensions , bodily shape or form especially of a person , an object noticeable only as a shape or form ,
3. the graphic representation of a form especially of a person or geometric entity, a diagram or pictorial illustration of textual matter, a person, thing, or action representative of another,
5. figure of speech , an intentional deviation from the ordinary form or syntactical relation of words, the form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term, an often repetitive pattern or design in a manufactured article (as cloth) or natural product (as wood) , appearance made ; impression produced ,
9. a series of movements in a dance, an outline representation of a form traced by a series of evolutions (as with skates on an ice surface or by an airplane in the air), a prominent personality ; personage , a short coherent group of notes or chords that may constitute part of a phrase, theme, or composition,
II. verb (figured; figuring)
Date: 14th century
transitive verb to represent by or as if by a figure or outline, to decorate with a pattern, to indicate or represent by numerals,
4. calculate , conclude , decide , regard , consider , to appear likely , intransitive verb
1. to be or appear important or conspicuous, to be involved or implicated , to perform a figure in dancing, compute , calculate , to seem rational, normal, or expected , to make sense of something, figurer noun