Noun

(en noun)

The person, place or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired.

* {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black)

, title=Internal Combustion, chapter=2 citation , passage=More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}

Spring; fountainhead; wellhead; any collection of water on or under the surface of the ground in which a stream originates.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= John Vidal

, volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas , passage=Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources . Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.}}

A reporter's informant.

(computing) Source code.

(electronics) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

Noun

(en noun)

A drawing or diagram conveying information.

*

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

* Shakespeare

a coin that bears the figure of an angel

A person or thing representing a certain consciousness.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)

, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures .}}

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

He cut a sorry figure standing there in the rain.

* Dryden

I made some figure there.

* Blackstone

gentlemen of the best figure in the county

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

* Law

that he may live in figure and indulgence

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

*

A numeral.

A number.

*

A shape.

* Francis Bacon

Flowers have all exquisite figures .

*

A visible pattern as in wood or cloth.

The muslin was of a pretty figure .

A dance figure, a complex dance move^(w).

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness,

A figure of speech.

* Macaulay

to represent the imagination under the figure of a wing

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

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

(Johnson)

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

(Grove)

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