''effigy'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260817195045-00-⌔

effigy - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

effigy (plural effigies)

• A dummy or other crude representation of a person, group or object that is hated.
  • ✤ In England on Bonfire Night, an effigy is often burned.
• A likeness of a person.
  • ✤ All around, terrace by terrace, there went marble lawns well guarded by onyx lions and carved with effigies of all the gods striding amid the symbols of the worlds.¹
  • ✤ There are two tombs, each bearing effigies of a knight and his lady. One is 14th century, the other 15th century. The earlier knight wears chain mail and his lady has long, flowing hair. The later knight has plate armour, and his wife wears a wimple.²

Etymology

From French effigie, from Latin effigiēs (“likeness, effigy”), from effingō (“represent, portray”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɛfəd͡ʒi/
• Audio (US): 🔊

Printed 2026-08-17.

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Footnotes

1. 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods ‎${}^{[1]}$, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 1: ↩

2. 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 54: ↩