| Middle French ''effigie'', from [[Latin]] ''effigies'', from ''effingere'' to [[form]], from ''ex''- + ''fingere'' to [[shape]] | | Middle French ''effigie'', from [[Latin]] ''effigies'', from ''effingere'' to [[form]], from ''ex''- + ''fingere'' to [[shape]] |
− | The [[word]] comes, perhaps via French, from the Latin, meaning "representation", and originally was used in [[English]] in the plural only – even a single image was "the effigies of ..." The word occurs in Shakespeare's ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_You_Like_It As You Like It]'' of 1600 (II, vii, 193), though it first appeared in 1539. "In effigie" was probably understood as a Latin phrase until the 18th century. | + | The [[word]] comes, perhaps via French, from the Latin, meaning "representation", and originally was used in [[English]] in the plural only – even a single image was "the effigies of ..." The word occurs in Shakespeare's ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_You_Like_It As You Like It]'' of 1600 (II, vii, 193), though it first appeared in 1539. "In effigie" was probably understood as a Latin phrase until the 18th century. |