【Form】 ,  【figure】 ,  【shape】 ,  【conformation】 ,  【configuration】  are comparable when they denote the disposition or arrangement of content that gives a particular aspect or appearance to a thing as distinguished from the substance of which that thing is made.

【Form】 is not only the most widely applicable of these terms, but it is also the least definitely fixed in its meaning, largely because of its being assigned various denotations in philosophy and aesthetics and because of its frequent use in reference to literature, music, and thought, where more is involved than the disposition or arrangement of content as immediately perceived by the senses. In general, 【form】 more than any of the other words implies reference to internal structure and disposition of details as well as to boundary lines and suggests unity in the whole.

【Figure】  applies usually to the 【form】 as determined by the lines which bound or enclose a thing <flowers have all exquisite figures —Bacon >  The term also may often suggest the lines or sometimes the visible 【form】 characteristic of a kind or type or the lines which follow a more or less conventional pattern rather than represent something actual.

【Shape】 , like  【figure】 , suggests reference to the boundary lines, but it carries a stronger implication of a mass or of a body than does  【figure】  and is therefore precisely applicable to something that is shown in its bulk rather than in its lines; thus, one draws the  【figure】  rather than the  【shape】  of a circle or a triangle, but one forms a mass of clay in the  【shape】  in preference to the  【figure】 of a ball or of a man.

Often,  【shape】 applies to outlines that have been given to a mass (as by molding, carving, or pressure).

【Form】 , 【figure】 , and  【shape】  are also used in reference to the bodies of living creatures, especially of men and women.  【Form】 is perhaps the most shadowy of these terms; it is applied chiefly to persons or animals identified but not clearly seen or noted in detail.

【Figure】  usually suggests closer vision than  【form】 and some perception of details but stresses lines, carriage, and posture.

【Shape】  differs little from  【figure】 except in its clearer suggestion of flesh and body.

【Conformation】 stresses the structure of something as composed or fashioned of related or carefully adjusted parts or as constituting a harmonious whole; it carries only a slight suggestion of reference to the outer lines or 【shape】 .

【Configuration】 emphasizes the disposition or arrangement of parts and the pattern that they 【form】 especially over an extent of space or territory.