fig
English
![](Images/wiktionary/Fig.jpg.webp)
![](Images/wiktionary/Fig_(Ficus_carica)_fruit_halved.jpg.webp)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɪɡ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪɡ
Etymology 1
From Middle English fige, fygge (also fyke, from Old English fīc, see fike), borrowed from Anglo-Norman figue, borrowed from Old French figue, from Old Occitan figa, from Vulgar Latin *fīca (“fig”), from Latin fīcus (“fig tree”), from a pre-Indo European language, perhaps Phoenician 𐤐𐤂 (pg, literally “ripe fig”) (compare Biblical Hebrew פַּגָּה (paggâ, “early fallen fig”), Classical Syriac ܦܓܐ (paggāʾ), dialectal Arabic فَجّ (fajj), فِجّ (fijj))[1]. (Another Semitic root (compare Akkadian 𒈠 (tīʾu, literally “fig”)) was borrowed into Ancient Greek as σῦκον (sûkon) (whence English sycophant; Boeotian τῦκον (tûkon)) and Armenian as թուզ (tʿuz).) The soap-making sense derives from the resemblance of the granulations in and texture of the soap to those of a fig. Doublet of fico.
Noun
fig (plural figs)
- A fruit-bearing tree or shrub of the genus Ficus that is native mainly to the tropics.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 3:7:
- And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
-
- The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds.
- A small piece of tobacco.
- 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 289:
- This was followed by his presenting his sable acquaintance with a fig of tobacco, whereupon, instead of thanking the donor in the usual way, the black signified his gratitude by throwing a spear at twenty or thirty yards' distance.
-
- The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; a whit.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iii]:
- I'll pledge you all; and a fig for Peter!
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 6, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, OCLC 3174108:
- About Rebecca and Jos he did not care a fig.
- 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:
- J. senses the entente between Eva and me and doesn't like it one fig.
-
- (Newfoundland, dated) a raisin (dried grape)
- figgy duff - boiled pudding with raisins
- The Lady Finger banana, also known as the "fig banana". (Cultivar of Musa acuminata.)
Derived terms
- Benjamin fig
- caprifig
- care a fig
- cluster fig
- cochineal fig
- creeping fig
- Eleme fig
- fig-dust
- fig-eater
- figgy
- fig leaf
- fig-leaf
- fig-leafed
- fig-leaved
- fig marigold
- fig parrot
- fig roll
- fig-sew
- fig-sue
- figtree
- fig tree
- fig-wart
- fig wasp
- flying fig
- give a fig
- goat fig
- Hottentot fig
- Indian fig
- mistletoe fig
- Moreton Bay fig
- not give a fig
- sacred fig
- strangler fig
- sycomore fig
- vine and fig-tree
- weeping fig
Descendants
- Tok Pisin: fik
- → Chuukese: fik
- → Maori: piki
Translations
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Verb
fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)
- (obsolete) To insult with a fico, or contemptuous motion.
- c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene iii]:
- When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like / The bragging Spaniard.
-
- (obsolete) To put into the head of, as something useless or contemptible.
- (soap-making, dated) To develop, or cause (a soap) to develop, white streaks or granulations. [mid-1800s to mid-1900s]
- 1893, Henry Gathmann, American Soaps, page 204:
- For filling figged soaps silicate of potash is best adapted, as soda prevents in a measure the proper crystallization. [...] Artificially figged soap [...makes] a very close imitation of the naturally figged soap.
- 1897, The National Provisioner, page 27:
- Figging is usually considered to indicate a good quality of soft soap, but such is really not the case. A first-class soft soap can be made which will not fig, while, on the other hand, a poor soap can be produced which will fig.
- 1938, Harry Bennett, The Standard Book of Formulas:
- In the cold soaps, the water soluble color is added in liquid form after saponification has started. In figged soaps, the color is crutched in after saponification is completed.
- 1893, Henry Gathmann, American Soaps, page 204:
Further reading
fig on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
fig tree on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Ficus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
Etymology 2
Variation of fike.
Verb
fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)
- (intransitive) To move suddenly or quickly; rove about.
Derived terms
- figgle
Noun
fig (plural figs)
- Abbreviation of figure. (diagram or illustration)
- (colloquial, dated) A person's figure; dress or appearance.
Alternative forms
- (abbreviation): fig.
Verb
fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)
- (colloquial, dated, transitive) To dress; to get oneself up a certain way.
Related terms
- figgery
- in full fig
Etymology 4
See figging.
Verb
fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)
- (transitive, rare) To insert a ginger root into the anus, vagina or urethra of (a horse): to perform figging upon; to feague, to feak.
- Synonym: ginger
- 1874, The Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal, page 176:
- Ginger, a showy, fast horse — as if he had been figged with ginger under his tail; a red-haired man.
- 1901, Natal Agriculture Journal, page 744:
- He must be "figged." Figging consists in pushing a piece of crushed ginger into the return of the wretched creature — a practice which is now illegal, and of which information should be given to the R.S.P.C.A. whenever detected.
- 2015, Becky Lower, The Cotillion Ball Saga, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
- “Is something amiss with the horse, Parr?” His gaze left the horse for a second as he glanced at Grace. “Yes, the horse has been figged. Now I just need to figure out who the culprit is.”
Noun
fig (plural figs)
- The piece of ginger root used in figging.
References
- Andreas Franz and Wilhelm Schimper, Plant Geography Upon a Physiological Basis, volume 2 (Berlin: Gebrüder Borntraeger, 1902), page 100
Anagrams
- FGI, GFI, GIF, IGF, gif
Haitian Creole
Etymology
French figue (“fig”).
Noun
fig
- banana
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fik/
- Rhymes: -ik
- Syllabification: fig
Noun
fig
- genitive plural of figa
Noun
fig
- genitive plural of figi
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ficus.
Noun
fig m (plural figi)
- (obsolete) fig tree
Declension
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) fig | figul | (niște) figi | figii |
genitive/dative | (unui) fig | figului | (unor) figi | figilor |
vocative | figule | figilor |
References
- fig in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN
Volapük
Noun
fig (nominative plural figs)
- fig
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | fig | figs |
genitive | figa | figas |
dative | fige | figes |
accusative | figi | figis |
vocative 1 | o fig! | o figs! |
predicative 2 | figu | figus |
- 1 status as a case is disputed
- 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only