Figment vs Illusion - What's the difference?
figment | illusion |
A fabrication, fantasy, invention; something fictitious.
* 1989 (Sep 30), R. McNeill Alexander, "Biomechanics in the days before Newton", New Scientist volume 123, No. 1684, page 59
* 1999 , Martin Gardner, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener , page 12
* 2004 , Daniel C. Noel, In a Wayward Mood: Selected Writings 1969-2002 , page 256
(countable) Anything that seems to be something that it is not.
* 2002 , (The Flaming Lips),
(countable) A misapprehension; a belief in something that is in fact not true.
(countable) A magician’s trick.
(uncountable) The state of being deceived or misled.
As nouns the difference between figment and illusion
is that figment is a fabrication, fantasy, invention; something fictitious while illusion is anything that seems to be something that it is not.figment
English
Noun
(en noun)- He had not seen sarcomeres: these segments were a figment of his imagination.
- Perhaps, dear reader, you are only a figment in the dream of some god, as Sherlock Holmes was a figment in the mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Jung's implication here is clearly that one should try to forget that this is only a figment or fantasy, merely make-believe—or perhaps that one should forget the “only,” the “merely”—and indeed take the fantasy seriously as a reality.
Usage notes
* Often used in the form "a figment of [someone's] imagination".References
* *illusion
English
(wikipedia illusion)Noun
- We saw what looked like a tiger among the trees, but it was an illusion caused by the shadows of the branches.
- Using artificial additives, scientists can create the illusion of fruit flavours in food.
- You realize the sun don't go down it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round.
- Jane has this illusion that John is in love with her.