Figure vs. Form — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Figure and Form

Compare with Definitions

Figure

Figures Mathematical calculations

Good at figures.

Form

The body or outward appearance of a person or an animal; figure

In the fog we could see two forms standing on the bridge.

Figure

A written or printed symbol representing something other than a letter, especially a number.

Form

The shape and structure of an object

The form of a snowflake.

Figure

An amount represented in numbers

Sold for a large figure.

Form

A model of the human figure or part of it used for displaying clothes.

Figure

Figures One of the digits specified as making up a larger number

A salary in the six figures.

Form

A mold for the setting of concrete.

Figure

(Mathematics) A geometric form consisting of any combination of points, lines, or planes

A triangle is a plane figure.

Form

The way in which a thing exists, acts, or manifests itself

An element usually found in the form of a gas.

Figure

The outline, form, or silhouette of a thing

Saw the figure of a cat in the window.

Form

(Philosophy) The essential or ideal nature of something, especially as distinguished from its matter or material being.

Figure

The shape or form of a human body

A fashion model with an attractive figure.

Form

A kind, type, or variety

A cat is a form of mammal.

Figure

An indistinct object or shape

The figures in the mist turned out to be lampposts.

Form

(Botany) A subdivision of a variety usually differing in one trivial characteristic, such as flower color.

Figure

A person, especially a well-known one

A famous historical figure.

Form

Method of arrangement or manner of coordinating elements in verbal or musical composition

Presented my ideas in outline form.

A treatise in the form of a dialogue.

Figure

Impression or appearance made

Cut a dashing figure at the reception.

Form

A particular type or example of such arrangement

The essay is a literary form.

Figure

A person, animal, or object that symbolizes something.

Form

Procedure as determined or governed by regulation or custom

Gave his consent solely as a matter of form.

Figure

A pictorial or sculptural representation, especially of the human body.

Form

Manners or conduct as governed by etiquette, decorum, or custom

Arriving late to a wedding is considered bad form.

Figure

A diagram

Drew a figure of the office layout.

Form

A fixed order of words or procedures, as for use in a ceremony

"As they had never had a funeral aboard a ship, they began rehearsing the forms so as to be ready" (Arthur Conan Doyle).

Figure

A design or pattern, as in a textile

Silk with a paisley figure.

Form

A document with blanks for the insertion of details or information

Insurance forms.

Figure

An illustration printed from an engraved plate or block.

Form

Performance considered with regard to acknowledged criteria

A musician at the top of her form.

Figure

A configuration or distinct group of steps in a dance.

Form

A pattern of behavior or performance

Remained true to form and showed up late.

Figure

A pattern traced by a series of movements, as in ice skating.

Form

Fitness, as of an athlete or animal, with regard to health or training

A dog in excellent form.

Figure

(Music) A brief melodic or harmonic unit often constituting the basis of a larger phrase or structure.

Form

A racing form.

Figure

(Logic) Any one of the forms that a syllogism can take, given one of the four possible arrangements of the middle term.

Form

A grade in a British secondary school or in some American private schools

The sixth form.

Figure

(Mathematics) To calculate with numbers

Figured the sum to be nearly a million.

Form

A linguistic form.

Figure

To make a likeness of; depict.

Form

The external aspect of words with regard to their inflections, pronunciation, or spelling.

Figure

To adorn with a design or figures.

Form

Chiefly British A long seat; a bench.

Figure

To write a sequence of conventionalized numbers below or above (the bassline) to indicate harmony.

Form

The lair or resting place of a hare.

Figure

To embellish with an ornamental pattern.

Form

To give form to; shape

Form clay into figures.

Figure

To conclude, believe, or predict

I never figured that this would happen.

Form

To make or fashion by shaping

Form figures out of clay.

Figure

To consider or regard

Figured them as con artists.

Form

To develop in the mind; conceive

Her reading led her to form a different opinion.

Figure

(Mathematics) To calculate; compute.

Form

To arrange oneself in

Holding out his arms, the cheerleader formed a T. The acrobats formed a pyramid.

Figure

To be or seem important or prominent

A key fact that figures in our understanding of what happened.

Form

To organize or arrange

The environmentalists formed their own party.

Figure

To be pertinent or involved

His advice barely figured in my decision.

Form

To fashion, train, or develop by instruction, discipline, or precept

Formed the recruits into excellent soldiers.

Figure

(Informal) To seem reasonable or expected

“I found my keys in the sofa.” “Well, that figures, given that you were sitting there last night.”.

Form

To come to have; develop or acquire

He formed the habit of walking to work.

Figure

A drawing or diagram conveying information.

Form

To enter into (a relationship)

They formed a friendship.

Figure

The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modelling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body.

A figure in bronze; a figure cut in marble

Form

To constitute or compose, especially out of separate elements

The bones that form the skeleton.

Figure

A person or thing representing a certain consciousness.

Form

To produce (a tense, for example) by inflection

Form the pluperfect.

Figure

The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person.

He cut a sorry figure standing there in the rain.

Form

To make (a word) by derivation or composition.

Figure

(obsolete) Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendour; show.

Form

To become formed or shaped

Add enough milk so the dough forms easily into balls.

Figure

A human figure, which dress or corset must fit to; the shape of a human body.

Form

To come into being by taking form; arise

Clouds will form in the afternoon.

Figure

A numeral.

Form

To assume a specified form, shape, or pattern

The soldiers formed into a column.

Figure

A number, an amount.

Form

To do with shape.

Figure

A shape.

A geometrical figure, a plane figure, a solid figure

Form

The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.

Figure

A visible pattern as in wood or cloth.

The muslin was of a pretty figure.''

Form

A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.

Figure

Any complex dance move^W.

Form

Regularity, beauty, or elegance.

Figure

A figure of speech.

Form

(philosophy) The inherent nature of an object; that which the mind itself contributes as the condition of knowing; that in which the essence of a thing consists.

Figure

(logic) The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.

Form

Characteristics not involving atomic components. en

Figure

(astrology) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.

Form

(dated) A long bench with no back.

Figure

(music) Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression.

Form

(fine arts) The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.

Figure

(music) A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a motif; a florid embellishment.

Form

(crystallography) The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.

Figure

To calculate, to solve a mathematical problem.

Form

(social) To do with structure or procedure.

Figure

To come to understand.

I can’t figure if he’s telling the truth or lying.

Form

An order of doing things, as in religious ritual.

Figure

To think, to assume, to suppose, to reckon.

Form

Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula.

Figure

To be reasonable.

It figures that somebody like him would be upset about the situation.

Form

Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system.

A republican form of government

Figure

(intransitive) To enter into; to be a part of.

Form

Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality.

A matter of mere form

Figure

(obsolete) To represent by a figure, as to form or mould; to make an image of, either palpable or ideal; also, to fashion into a determinate form; to shape.

Form

(archaic) A class or rank in society.

Figure

To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.

Form

(UK) A criminal record; loosely, past history (in a given area).

Figure

(obsolete) To indicate by numerals.

Form

Level of performance.

The team's form has been poor this year.

The orchestra was on top form this evening.

Figure

To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.

Form

A class or year of school pupils (often preceded by an ordinal number to specify the year, as in sixth form).

Figure

(obsolete) To prefigure; to foreshow.

Form

A blank document or template to be filled in by the user.

To apply for the position, complete the application form.

Figure

(music) To write over or under the bass, as figures or other characters, in order to indicate the accompanying chords.

Form

A specimen document to be copied or imitated.

Figure

(music) To embellish.

Form

(grammar) A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages; the particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech.

Participial forms;

Verb forms

Figure

The form of anything; shape; outline; appearance.

Flowers have all exquisite figures.

Form

The den or home of a hare.

Figure

The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modeling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body; as, a figure in bronze; a figure cut in marble.

A coin that bears the figure of an angel.

Form

A window or dialogue box.

Figure

A pattern in cloth, paper, or other manufactured article; a design wrought out in a fabric; as, the muslin was of a pretty figure.

Form

Essentials

Figure

A diagram or drawing, made to represent a magnitude or the relation of two or more magnitudes; a surface or space inclosed on all sides; - called superficial when inclosed by lines, and solid when inclosed by surfaces; any arrangement made up of points, lines, angles, surfaces, etc.

Form

(taxonomy) An infraspecific rank.

Figure

The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person; as, a sorry figure.

I made some figure there.

Gentlemen of the best figure in the county.

Form

The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.

Figure

Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendor; show.

That he may live in figure and indulgence.

Form

(geometry) A quantic.

Figure

A character or symbol representing a number; a numeral; a digit; as, 1, 2,3, etc.

Form

A specific way of performing a movement.

Figure

Value, as expressed in numbers; price; as, the goods are estimated or sold at a low figure.

With nineteen thousand a year at the very lowest figure.

Form

(transitive) To assume (a certain shape or visible structure).

When you kids form a straight line I'll hand out the lollies.

Figure

A person, thing, or action, conceived of as analogous to another person, thing, or action, of which it thus becomes a type or representative.

Who is the figure of Him that was to come.

Form

(transitive) To give (a shape or visible structure) to a thing or person.

Roll out the dough to form a thin sheet.

Figure

A mode of expressing abstract or immaterial ideas by words which suggest pictures or images from the physical world; pictorial language; a trope; hence, any deviation from the plainest form of statement. Also called a figure of speech.

To represent the imagination under the figure of a wing.

Form

(intransitive) To take shape.

When icicles start to form on the eaves you know the roads will be icy.

Figure

The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.

Form

To put together or bring into being; assemble.

The socialists did not have enough MPs to form a government.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon formed The Beatles in Liverpool in 1960.

Figure

Any one of the several regular steps or movements made by a dancer.

Form

To create (a word) by inflection or derivation.

By adding "-ness", you can form a noun from an adjective.

Figure

A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.

Form

(transitive) To constitute, to compose, to make up.

Teenagers form the bulk of extreme traffic offenders.

Figure

Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression.

Form

To mould or model by instruction or discipline.

Singing in a choir helps to form a child's sociality.

Figure

A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a musical phrase or motive; a florid embellishment.

Form

To provide (a hare) with a form.

Figure

To represent by a figure, as to form or mold; to make an image of, either palpable or ideal; also, to fashion into a determinate form; to shape.

If love, alas! be pain I bear,

No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.Prior.

Form

To treat (plates) to prepare them for introduction into a storage battery, causing one plate to be composed more or less of spongy lead, and the other of lead peroxide. This was formerly done by repeated slow alternations of the charging current, but later the plates or grids were coated or filled, one with a paste of red lead and the other with litharge, introduced into the cell, and formed by a direct charging current.

Figure

To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.

The vaulty top of heavenFigured quite o'er with burning meteors.

Form

The shape and structure of anything, as distinguished from the material of which it is composed; particular disposition or arrangement of matter, giving it individuality or distinctive character; configuration; figure; external appearance.

The form of his visage was changed.

And woven close close, both matter, form, and style.

Figure

To indicate by numerals; also, to compute.

As through a crystal glass the figured hours are seen.

Form

Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system; as, a republican form of government.

Figure

To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.

Whose white vestments figure innocence.

Form

Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula; as, a form of prayer.

Those whom form of lawsCondemned to die.

Figure

To prefigure; to foreshow.

In this the heaven figures some event.

Form

Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality; as, a matter of mere form.

Though well we may not pass upon his lifeWithout the form of justice.

Figure

To write over or under the bass, as figures or other characters, in order to indicate the accompanying chords.

Form

Orderly arrangement; shapeliness; also, comeliness; elegance; beauty.

The earth was without form and void.

He hath no form nor comeliness.

Figure

To make a figure; to be distinguished or conspicious; as, the envoy figured at court.

Sociable, hospitable, eloquent, admired, figuring away brilliantly.

Form

A shape; an image; a phantom.

Figure

To calculate; to contrive; to scheme; as, he is figuring to secure the nomination.

Form

That by which shape is given or determined; mold; pattern; model.

Figure

A diagram or picture illustrating textual material;

The area covered can be seen from Figure 2

Form

A long seat; a bench; hence, a rank of students in a school; a class; also, a class or rank in society.

Figure

Alternative names for the body of a human being;

Leonardo studied the human body

He has a strong physique

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

Form

The seat or bed of a hare.

As in a form sitteth a weary hare.

Figure

One of the elements that collectively form a system of numbers;

0 and 1 are digits

Form

The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.

Figure

A model of a bodily form (especially of a person);

He made a figure of Santa Claus

Form

The boundary line of a material object. In (painting), more generally, the human body.

Figure

A well-known or notable person;

They studied all the great names in the history of France

She is an important figure in modern music

Form

The particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech; as, participial forms; verbal forms.

Figure

A combination of points and lines and planes that form a visible palpable shape

Form

The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.

Figure

An amount of money expressed numerically;

A figure of $17 was suggested

Form

That assemblage or disposition of qualities which makes a conception, or that internal constitution which makes an existing thing to be what it is; - called essential or substantial form, and contradistinguished from matter; hence, active or formative nature; law of being or activity; subjectively viewed, an idea; objectively, a law.

Figure

The impression produced by a person;

He cut a fine figure

A heroic figure

Form

Mode of acting or manifestation to the senses, or the intellect; as, water assumes the form of ice or snow. In modern usage, the elements of a conception furnished by the mind's own activity, as contrasted with its object or condition, which is called the matter; subjectively, a mode of apprehension or belief conceived as dependent on the constitution of the mind; objectively, universal and necessary accompaniments or elements of every object known or thought of.

Figure

The property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals;

He had a number of chores to do

The number of parameters is small

The figure was about a thousand

Form

The peculiar characteristics of an organism as a type of others; also, the structure of the parts of an animal or plant.

Figure

Language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense

Form

To give form or shape to; to frame; to construct; to make; to fashion.

God formed man of the dust of the ground.

The thought that labors in my forming brain.

Figure

A unitary percept having structure and coherence that is the object of attention and that stands out against a ground

Form

To give a particular shape to; to shape, mold, or fashion into a certain state or condition; to arrange; to adjust; also, to model by instruction and discipline; to mold by influence, etc.; to train.

'T is education forms the common mind.

Thus formed for speed, he challenges the wind.

Figure

A decorative or artistic work;

The coach had a design on the doors

Form

To go to make up; to act as constituent of; to be the essential or constitutive elements of; to answer for; to make the shape of; - said of that out of which anything is formed or constituted, in whole or in part.

The diplomatic politicians . . . who formed by far the majority.

Figure

A predetermined set of movements in dancing or skating;

She made the best score on compulsory figures

Form

To derive by grammatical rules, as by adding the proper suffixes and affixes.

Figure

Judge to be probable

Form

To treat (plates) so as to bring them to fit condition for introduction into a storage battery, causing one plate to be composed more or less of spongy lead, and the other of lead peroxide. This was formerly done by repeated slow alternations of the charging current, but now the plates or grids are coated or filled, one with a paste of red lead and the other with litharge, introduced into the cell, and formed by a direct charging current.

Figure

Be or play a part of or in;

Elections figure prominently in every government program

How do the elections figure in the current pattern of internal politics?

Form

To take a form, definite shape, or arrangement; as, the infantry should form in column.

Figure

Imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind;

I can't see him on horseback!

I can see what will happen

I can see a risk in this strategy

Form

To run to a form, as a hare.

Figure

Make a mathematical calculation or computation

Form

The phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something;

The inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached

Figure

Understand;

He didn't figure her

Form

A category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality;

Sculpture is a form of art

What kinds of desserts are there?

Form

A perceptual structure;

The composition presents problems for students of musical form

A visual pattern must include not only objects but the spaces between them

Form

Any spatial attributes (especially as defined by outline);

He could barely make out their shapes through the smoke

Form

Alternative names for the body of a human being;

Leonardo studied the human body

He has a strong physique

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

Form

The spatial arrangement of something as distinct from its substance;

Geometry is the mathematical science of shape

Form

The visual appearance of something or someone;

The delicate cast of his features

Form

(physical chemistry) a distinct state of matter in a system; matter that is identical in chemical composition and physical state and separated from other material by the phase boundary;

The reaction occurs in the liquid phase of the system

Form

A printed document with spaces in which to write;

He filled out his tax form

Form

(biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups;

A new strain of microorganisms

Form

An arrangement of the elements in a composition or discourse;

The essay was in the form of a dialogue

He first sketches the plot in outline form

Form

A particular mode in which something is manifested;

His resentment took the form of extreme hostility

Form

A body of students who are taught together;

Early morning classes are always sleepy

Form

An ability to perform well;

He was at the top of his form

The team was off form last night

Form

A life-size dummy used to display clothes

Form

A mold for setting concrete;

They built elaborate forms for pouring the foundation

Form

To compose or represent:

This wall forms the background of the stage setting

The branches made a roof

This makes a fine introduction

Form

Create (as an entity);

Social groups form everywhere

They formed a company

Form

Develop into a distinctive entity;

Our plans began to take shape

Form

Give a shape or form to;

Shape the dough

Form

Make something, usually for a specific function;

She molded the riceballs carefully

Form cylinders from the dough

Shape a figure

Work the metal into a sword

Form

Establish or impress firmly in the mind;

We imprint our ideas onto our children

Form

Give shape to;

Form the clay into a head

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