The act of deceiving someone or dressing something up to appear better than it really is; also a historical term for a cruel practice with animals.
Present participle of the verb 'fig,' from Old French origins. The practice gained notoriety in medieval times when it was used to make tired horses appear spirited before sale.
Figging was such a notorious medieval scam that it became the root for all words meaning trickery—one dishonest horse-trading practice essentially created our entire vocabulary for fraud!
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