In wood, figure refers to the appearance of wood, as seen on a longitudinal surface (side-grain): a "figured wood" is not plain.

The figure of a particular piece of wood may be due to the cut, or to innate properties of the wood. A few of the tropical hardwoods, like the rosewoods, may have quite spectacular figure.

Colloquially "figure" is often referred to as "grain", which properly refers to the direction of the wood.

wood