Construct · 2 fields · 3 citations

Where does figure collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

● jingle · one word, two constructs Nearest construct by meaninggroundcompare the meanings
How to read this

Every construct on the map is compared with every other by the meaning of its definitions, and the closest one is surfaced here. The nearest construct to figure is ground.

Hold this as a prompt, not a verdict. Two constructs sitting close in meaning is a reason to read them side by side and decide for yourself whether they are one idea under two names. It is not proof that they are. Compare the meanings in the Collider.

figure2 CONSTRUCTSFigure of speechQUINTILIAN · FIGURAFigure (vs ground)RUBIN · FIGURE VS GROUND

Spokes are fields; dashed arcs are shared lineage. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

1920Figure of speech1921Figure (vs ground)
2026

Drag to watch the word get claimed. Each field appears at the publication date of the earliest source cited for it. Tap a year to see which.

Rhetoric and linguistics

A non-literal use of language

A figure of speech is a use of language that departs from plain, literal statement for effect, such as a metaphor that calls one thing another, or hyperbole that overstates. Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria of about 95 CE devoted its ninth book to figures, separating figures of thought from figures of words and cataloguing how ordinary usage is bent. The referent is a pattern in language, a way of saying rather than a thing in space: it is not a bounded shape in geometry, not an object standing out in perception, and not the depicted human form in art.[1]

Unit
A single departure from literal usage, such as a metaphor or an instance of hyperbole
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Identified and sorted by rhetoricians into named types, such as tropes and schemes

Perceptual psychology

An object seen against a ground

In perception the figure is the region of a visual scene that is seen as a bounded object standing out in front, while the rest recedes as the ground, or background. Edgar Rubin's 1921 Visuell wahrgenommene Figuren established this figure-ground distinction, showing with reversible displays that the same boundary can be assigned to one side or the other, and Wagemans and colleagues' 2012 review traces a century of work built on it. The referent is an organising act of the visual system, a way a scene is carved into object and background, not a shape in geometry, a turn of phrase, or a body drawn on paper.[2][3]

Unit
The part of a scene perceived as a bounded object standing out from its background
Recovery means
In ambiguous displays the figure and ground can reverse, so what was the object becomes the background
Measured by
Studied with ambiguous displays and edge-assignment tasks that reveal which region is seen as the figure

Next

Run it through the Collider, or take the citations with you.

See how figure sits against neighbouring constructs in the Collider, or export every reference on this page in one click.

Open in ColliderExport BibTeXReport this collision

Nearby collisions

perception3 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, three constructsgestalt3 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one name, three psychologiesfigure-ground4 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one term, four levels

References

  1. Quintilian. (1920). Institutio oratoria (H. E. Butler, Trans.). Harvard University Press. (Original work published ca. 95 CE)
  2. Rubin, E. (1921). Visuell wahrgenommene Figuren: Studien in psychologischer Analyse. Gyldendalske Boghandel.
  3. Wagemans, J., Elder, J. H., Kubovy, M., Palmer, S. E., Peterson, M. A., Singh, M., & von der Heydt, R. (2012). A century of Gestalt psychology in visual perception: I. Perceptual grouping and figure–ground organization. Psychological Bulletin, 138(6), 1172–1217. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029333

Cited on this page?

Confirm your construct, or correct us.

If your work is cited behind one of these entries, you know better than we do whether we captured the meaning right. Confirm it, suggest an edit, or dispute it, and your name goes on the entry as an author who has checked it, linked to your ORCID.

Claim your construct