Something that exists only in the imagination, not in reality; a made-up idea or invention of the mind.
From Latin 'figmentum' (something formed or made), derived from 'fingere' (to form, shape, fashion). The word entered English in the 1600s to describe imaginary creations of the mind.
The Latin 'fingere' also gives us 'feign,' 'fiction,' and 'finger'—all related to making or shaping something—so a figment is literally something 'shaped' by your imagination rather than by reality.
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