figment

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   something invented or imagined that has no real existence

   The supposed conspiracy was a figment of his imagination.

Simplified etymology

Figment dates from late Middle English and ultimately derives from Latin fingere, “to form” or “contrive.” It belongs to the same word family as fiction, faint, feign, and feint.

From Late Latin figmentum ('something fashioned; a fiction'), from Latin fingere ('to shape, form, devise, or feign'). The same Latin verb lies behind fiction and feign. The modern sense preserves the idea of something mentally fashioned rather than real.

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