The word "figment" means something produced by the imagination that does not really exist. It is often used in the phrase "figment of your imagination" to indicate a thing or idea that someone believes is real but is actually invented or imagined. For example, when someone says, "It was just a figment of my imagination," they are saying that what they thought they perceived was not real but imagined.
The word originates from the Latin "figmentum," related to "fingere," meaning to form or contrive. This reflects how a figment is a creation or invention of the mind rather than something tangible.
In summary, a figment is a mental creation, an illusion, or a fantasy that has no objective reality.