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Origin and history of statue

statue(n.)

"figure of a person or animal made in a solid substance, of some size and in the round," late 14c., from Old French statue, estatue "(pagan) statue, graven image" (12c.), from Latin statua "image, statue, monumental figure, representation in metal."

This is properly "that which is set up," a back-formation from statuere "to cause to stand, set up," from status "a standing, position," from past participle stem of stare "to stand" (from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm").

The children's game of statues is attested by that name from 1906. Among the verbs for "represent as a statue" that have been tried in English and mostly discarded are statuize (1719, translating French fait Statuër), statue (1751), statufy (1868).

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to statue

statuary(n.)

1560s, "art of making statues;" 1580s, "statue sculptor," from Latin statuaria (ars) "(art) of sculpture." The noun is thus the fem. of the adjective statuarius "of statues" (also as a noun, "maker of statues"), from statua "an image, statue, monumental figure" (see statue).

The meaning "statues collectively" is from 1670s. As an adjective, "of or pertaining to statues," 1620s, from the noun or from Latin statuarius.

statuesque(adj.)

"of or like a statue" in some sense, especially "stately, having a formal dignity and beauty, tall and solidly built," 1823, from statue, patterned on picturesque. Related: Statuesquely; statuesqueness.

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colossus
"gigantic statue," late 14c., from Latin colossus "a statue larger than life," from Greek kolossos "gigantic statue," which...But the island of Rhodes is almost the only place where Helios enjoys an important cult; ... the largest Greek statue in...
pasquinade
public lampoon," 1650s, from French, from Italian pasquinata (c. 1500), from Pasquino, name given to a mutilated ancient statue...A custom developed of posting satirical verses and lampoons on the statue....
image
representation that looks like a person or thing," from Old French image "image, likeness; figure, drawing, portrait; reflection; statue...," earlier imagene (11c.), from Latin imaginem (nominative imago) "copy, imitation, likeness; statue, picture," also "phantom...
epigraph
1620s, "inscription on a building, statue, etc.," from Greek epigraphē "an inscription," from epigraphein "to mark the surface...
callipygian
"of, pertaining to, or having beautiful buttocks," 1800, Latinized from Greek kallipygos, the name of a statue of Aphrodite...
Pygmalion
legendary Greek sculptor/goldsmith who created a beautiful statue of a woman he made and wished to life, from Greek Pygmaliōn...
android
Greek androdes meant "like a man, manly;" compare also Greek andrias "image of a man, statue."...
Sphinx
monster of Greek mythology having a lion's (winged) body and a woman's head; she waylaid travelers around Thebes and devoured those who could not answer her questions; Oedipus solved the riddle and the Sphinx killed herself. In English from early 15c., from Latin Sphinx, from Gre
sculpture
late 14c., "the art or process of sculpture, the act or art of carving or shaping figures and other objects in the round or in relief on more or less hard surfaces," from Latin sculptura "sculpture," from past participle stem of sculpere "to carve, engrave," a back-formation from
terminus
1550s, "goal, end, final point," from Latin terminus (plural termini) "an end, a limit, boundary line," from PIE *ter-men- "peg, post," from root *ter-, base of words meaning "peg, post; boundary, marker, goal" (source also of Sanskrit tarati "passes over, crosses over," tarantah

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