figuration
Americannoun
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the act of shaping into a particular figure.
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the resulting figure or shape.
emblematic figurations of the sun and the moon.
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the act of representing figuratively.
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a figurative representation.
allegorical figurations.
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the act of marking or adorning with a design.
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Music.
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the employment of passing notes or other embellishments.
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the figuring of a bass part.
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noun
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music
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the employment of characteristic patterns of notes, esp in variations on a theme
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decoration or florid ornamentation in general
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the act or an instance of representing figuratively, as by means of allegory or emblem
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a figurative or emblematic representation
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the act of decorating with a design
Etymology
Origin of figuration
1400–50; late Middle English figuracioun < Latin figūrātiōn- (stem of figūrātiō ) “a shaping” ( see figure ( def. )) + -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They brilliantly bridge figuration and abstraction by letting the dressed body tell the story.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
The other was the vigorous argument between abstraction and figuration as front runner of the avant-garde, then being hard-fought in the American art world.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2025
The tension in de Kooning between figuration and abstraction feels brilliantly resolved because he invented his own coherent language of hooked-line contours and “slipping glimpses.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 27, 2023
Studying his work and sources I began to think about combining figuration and abstraction, and melding manipulated planes and organic shapes.
From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2023
None of our conductors are courageous enough to take an Adagio in this manner; they always begin by looking for some bit of figuration, and arrange their tempo to match.
From On Conducting (Üeber Das Dirigiren) : a Treatise on Style in the Execution of Classical Music, by Dannreuther, Edward
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
