What is Figure:
The term figure, which comes from Latin figureis used to refer to the external shape, appearance or image of a person, body or object in particular and that differentiates it from the others.
The word figure can be used in various contexts in which the meaning of the word varies. For example, when referring to an outstanding person in a specific field such as medicine or the legal area, to the body figure of an individual who takes care of his or her body and muscles, or to a character in a play or movie.
Statues, sculptures and even paintings that reproduce the shapes of human or animal bodies are also called figures.
The word figure can be replaced by synonyms such as silhouette, shape, image and outline or, if referring to a prominent person, it can be replaced by character or eminence.
Geometric figure
The geometric figure is composed of points and a line or set of closed lines that are distinguished by their surface and volumewhich in turn form a silhouette or object.
In geometry, one of the branches of mathematics, geometric figures are studied through their extension. If the extension of a figure has two dimensions, then it is called a surface. But, if it has three surfaces: longitude, latitude and depth, we speak of volume.
There are different types of geometric figures, the basic ones are the point, the plane and the line. Then, there are the most recognized geometric figures, which are the triangle, the box, the rectangle and the circle. And, due to their dimension, there are linear, flat and volumetric (three-dimensional) figures.
Figure of speech
Rhetorical figures or literary figures refer to the unconventional use of language, through resources and techniques, to achieve greater expressiveness, emotion and beauty in literary discourse.
Writers often make use of rhetorical figures in poems, essays or narrative and dramatic texts to enrich, exalt and beautify the images, emotions or events described throughout the story.
Among the most used rhetorical figures are simile (comparison), hyperbole (exaggeration), onomatopoeia (written representation of sounds), metaphor (analogy), among others.
See also the meaning of Literary Figures.
Figure background
The Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin was one of the first specialists to study the distinction between figure and background in an image and how they are perceived by people.
The most famous image is called the “Rubin Cup”, in which you can see two black faces and between them a white cup.
These psychological studies demonstrate the tendency that people have for the background of an image to go unnoticed in the presence of two figures since they take up less space and usually have a more intense color than the background.
Human figure test
The human figure test is a psychological evaluation technique in which the person, generally children, is asked to make a drawing of the human body, which will subsequently be analyzed in order to determine the personality characteristics and cognitive and intellectual competencies of the patient.
Through this evaluation, the specialist can determine if the patient is going through any process of anxiety, stress, abuse, depression, aggression, among others.