Etymology

fig leaf

Today it means: A leaf of the fig plant. Full definition →

Middle English *figge leef ← Old English fīclēaf
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromfīclēaf“fig leaf”
  2. Middle English · inherited from*figge leef
  3. English todayfig leaf

From Middle English *figge leef (attested in the plural figge leves), a partial calque of Old English fīclēaf (“fig leaf”). By surface analysis, fig + leaf.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.