figurant

American  

[fig-yuh-rant, -rahnt, fee-gy-rahn] / ˌfɪg yəˈrænt, -ˈrɑnt, fi güˈrɑ̃ /

noun

1. a ballet dancer who does not perform solo.

2. a performer with no spoken lines.

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figurant British  

/ ˌfɪɡjʊˈrɒnt, ˈfɪɡjʊrənt /

noun

1. a ballet dancer who does group work but no solo roles

2. theatre a minor character, esp one who does not speak

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Other Word Forms

• figurante noun

Etymology

Origin of figurant

First recorded in 1775–80; from French, present participle of figurer “to figure, appear, represent,” from Old French, from Latin figūrāre, “to form, shape,” from figūra “form, composition”; figure ( def. )

Example Sentences

But that she might not in the morning discover her erroneous confounding of things, he gave his wax figurant exactly the position which he had occupied at the window.

From Hesperus or Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days Vol. II A Biography by Jean Paul

Summa theologica," pars III., questio 60 usque ad 85: "Sacramenta efficiunt quod figurant....

From The Modern Regime, Volume 1 by Durand, John

The infusory chaos of Revel's exhortation had made this weary figurant and mimicker of Death tender and grave.

From Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces; or, the Wedded Life, Death, and Marriage of Firmian Stanislaus Siebenkaes, Parish Advocate in the Burgh of Kuhschnappel. by Jean Paul

The figurant, from this modest and accidental beginning of his career as an actor, speedily rose to be famous.

From A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character by Cook, Dutton

The French stage has a story of a figurant who ruined at once a new tragedy and his own prospects by an unhappy lapsus linguæ, the result of undue haste and nervous excitement.

From A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character by Cook, Dutton

Related Words

• dancer