fig

fig · noun, verb¹

1. Semitic · derived from
2. Phoenician · derived from𐤐𐤂
3. Latin · derived fromfīcus“fig tree”
4. Vulgar Latin · derived from*fīca“fig”
5. Old Occitan · derived fromfiga
6. Old French · derived fromfigue
7. Anglo-Norman · derived fromfigue
8. Middle English · inherited fromfige
9. English todayfig

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)). (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 (tʻuz).) 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.

fig · verb²

Variation of fike.

fig · verb, noun³

See figging.

Fig · proper noun⁴

1. Arabic · calque ofالتِين
2. English todayFig

Calque of Arabic التِين (at-tīn), after the first word of the sura.

Fig · proper noun⁵

Clipping.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 12th c. The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds.
• from 14th c. A fruit-bearing tree or shrub of the genus Ficus that is native mainly to the tropics.
• from 15th c. The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; a whit.
• from 16th c. A Lady Finger banana, also known as the "fig banana", (cultivar of Musa acuminata)
• from 18th c. A raisin (dried grape).
• from 19th c. A small piece of tobacco.
• mid-1800s to mid-1900s To develop, or cause (a soap) to develop, white streaks or granulations.