sycamore

See also: Sycamore

English

Alternative forms

sycomore

Etymology

Circa 1350 as Middle English sicamour, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Ancient Greek σῡκόμορος (sūkómoros, literally “fig-mulberry”), from σῦκον (sûkon, “fig”) + μόρον (móron, “mulberry”). Possibly influenced by Hebrew שִׁקְמָה‎ (shikmá, “fig-mulberry”).

In the 16th c. applied to the European maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), in the early 19th c. to various plane tree species introduced to North America, perhaps in analogy to their shadiness.[1]

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪkəmɔɹ/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪkəmɔː/
Audio (US) (file)
Homophone: sycomore
Hyphenation: syc‧a‧more

Noun

sycamore (countable and uncountable, plural sycamores)

(US) Any of several North American plane trees, of the genus Platanus, especially Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore), distinguished by its mottled bark which flakes off in large irregular masses.
Synonyms: planetree, plane
Hyponym: buttonwood
- 1931, Gus Kahn (lyrics), Fabian Andre; Wilbur Schwandt (music), “Dream a Little Dream of Me”:
  Stars shining bright above you / Night breezes seem to whisper, I love you / Birds singin' in the sycamore trees
- 1976, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift, New York: Avon, →ISBN, page 408:
  On his dark face were white sycamore patches.
(Britain) A large British and European species of maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, known in North America as the sycamore maple.
- 1899, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “The Day-Dream”, in Pictures & poems:
  The thronged boughs of the shadowy sycamore / Still bear young leaflets half the summer through
(originally) A large tree bearing edible fruit, Ficus sycomorus, allied to the common fig, found in Egypt and Syria.
Synonyms: sycomore, sycomore fig, fig-mulberry

Related terms

sycophant

Translations

Platanus

Arabic: شجر جميز‎ (shakhar jamīz)
Aromanian: paltin m
Azerbaijani: çinar (az)
Bulgarian: чинар (bg) m (činar), платан m (platan)
Catalan: plàtan (ca) m
Cherokee: ᎪᏧᏁᎦ (gotsunega), ᎫᏩᏧᏁᎦ (guwatsunega)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 懸鈴木／悬铃木 (zh) (xuánlíngmù), 美桐 (měitóng)
Czech: platan (cs) m
Estonian: plataanid, plaatanid (archaic)
Finnish: plataani (fi) (Platanus); amerikanplataani, lännenplataani (Platanus occidentalis)
French: platane (fr) m
Galician: plátano (gl)
German: Platane (de) f
Greek: πλάτανος (el) m (plátanos)
Ancient: πλάτανος m (plátanos)
Hebrew: דולב‎ m (dolev)
Italian: platano (it) m
Japanese: スズカケノキ (suzukake no ki), プラタナス (puratanasu)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: çinar (ku) f
Latin: platanus m
Malagasy: mamankona (mg)
Malayalam: ചിനാർ (cināṟ)
Maori: hikamora, hikamoa
Persian: چنار‎ (fa) (čenâr)
Polish: platan (pl) m
Portuguese: plátano (pt) m
Romanian: platan (ro) m
Russian: плата́н (ru) m (platán), чинар (ru) m (činar)
Serbo-Croatian: platan (sh) m, platana (sh) f
Spanish: plátano (es) m (Spain)
Swahili: mwela
Tagalog: sikomoro
Tatar: чинар (çinar)
Turkish: çınar (tr)
Ukrainian: платан m (platan)

sycamore maple — see sycamore maple

Ficus sycomorus

Armenian: ժանտաթզենի (hy) (žantatʿzeni)
Bulgarian: черничева смокиня f (černičeva smokinja)
Egyptian:

(nht f)
Estonian: plataan, plaatan (archaic)
Finnish: sykomori, metsäviikunapuu
French: sycomore (fr) m, figuier sycomore (fr) m
Galician: sicómoro (gl) m
German: Maulbeerfeige f, Maulbeer-Feige f, Sykomore f, Eselsfeige f
Greek:
Ancient: συκόμορος f (sukómoros)
Hebrew: שִׁקְמָה‎ (he) f (shiqmá)
Japanese: エジプトイチジク (Ejiputo-ichijiku), イチジクグワ (ichijikuguwa)
Kikuyu: mũkũyũ class 3
Maori: hikamora
Middle English: sicamour
Portuguese: sicómoro m (Portugal), sicômoro m (Brazil)
Romanian: sicomor (ro) m
Serbo-Croatian: sikomora (sh) f
Swahili: mkuyu (sw)
Tagalog: sikomoro
Welsh: sycamorwydden f

References

Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “sycamore”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.