A fig ( the fruit ) . A fig ( the fruit ) in cross-section. 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 ( 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 .
Noun
fig (plural figs )
The fruit of the fig tree, pear -shaped and containing many small seeds. [from 12th c.]
A fruit-bearing tree or shrub of the genus Ficus that is native mainly to the tropics . [from 14th c.]
The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico ; a whit . [from 15th c.]
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 , [ Act II, scene iii] :I'll pledge you all; and a fig for Peter!
The Lady Finger banana , also known as the "fig banana ", (cultivar of Musa acuminata ) [from 16th c.]
( Newfoundland , dated ) A raisin (dried grape). [from 18th c.]
A small piece of tobacco . [from 19th c.]
1874 , Marcus Clarke , For the Term of His Natural Life , Penguin, published 2009 , page 109 :“You may flog, and welcome, master,” said he, “if you'll give me a fig o' tibbacky.”
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.
Translations
tree or shrub
Afrikaans: vyeboom (af)
Akkadian: 𒈠 ( tittu )
Amharic: በለስ ( bäläs )
Arabic: تِين (ar) m ( tīn ) , بَلَس m ( balas ) ( Yemen )
Egyptian Arabic: شجرة تين f ( šagaret tīn )
Moroccan Arabic: كرم m ( kram ) ( collective ) , كرمة f ( karma ) ( singulative )
Armenian: թզենի (hy) ( tʻzeni )
Aromanian: hic
Assamese: ডিমৰু ( dimoru )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܝܼܠܵܢܵܐ ܕܬܹܐܢܵܐ m ( īlana d-tīna )
Asturian: figal (ast) m
Azerbaijani: əncir ağacı , incir ağacı
Basque: pikondo
Bulgarian: смокиня (bg) f ( smokinja )
Catalan: figuera (ca) f
Chichewa: mkuyu
Chinese:
Cantonese: 無花果 / 无花果 ( mou4 faa1 gwo2 )
Eastern Min: 無花果 / 无花果 ( ù-huă-guō )
Hakka: 無花果 / 无花果 ( vù-fâ-kó )
Hokkien: 無花果 / 无花果 ( bû-hoa-kó )
Mandarin: 無花果 / 无花果 (zh) ( wúhuāguǒ )
Classical Nahuatl: īcoxcuahuitl
Czech: fík (cs) m , fíkovník (cs) m
Dalmatian: fichiera f
Danish: figentræ n
Dutch: vijgenboom (nl) m
Esperanto: figarbo , figujo
Estonian: viigipuu (et)
Faroese: fikutræ n
Finnish: viikuna (fi) , viikunapuu (fi)
French: figuier (fr) m
Friulian: figâr
Galician: figueira (gl) f
Ge'ez: በለስ ( bäläs )
Georgian: ლეღვის ხე ( leɣvis xe )
German: Feigenbaum (de) m
Gothic: 𐍃𐌼𐌰𐌺𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌲𐌼𐍃 m ( smakkabagms )
Greek: συκιά (el) f ( sykiá )
Ancient: συκέα f ( sukéa )
Hausa: ɓaure
Hawaiian: piku
Hebrew: תְּאֵנָה (he) f ( tena )
Hindi: अंजीर (hi) m ( añjīr )
Hungarian: fügefa (hu)
Ido: figiero (io)
Indonesian: ara (id)
Irish: crann figí m
Italian: fico (it) m
Japanese: 無花果 (ja) ( いちじく, ichijiku, むかか, mukaka ) , 映日果 ( いちじく, ichijiku, えいじつか, eijitsuka )
Kannada: ಅಂಜೂರ (kn) ( añjūra )
Khmer: ដើមល្វា ( daəm lvie )
Korean: 무화과(無花果) (ko) ( muhwagwa ) , 무화과나무 ( muhwagwanamu )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دار ھەنجیر ( dar hencîr )
Northern Kurdish: hejîr (ku) f , darhejîr f
Ladino: igera
Lao: ໝາກເດື່ອ ( māk dư̄a )
Latin: ficus m or f
Lithuanian: fikusas m
Lombard: figh , fich
Malagasy: ara (mg) , voara (mg)
Malay: ara (ms) , tin
Malayalam: അത്തി (ml) ( atti )
Maltese: tina f
Maori: piki
Norman: fidgi m
Norwegian: fikentre n
Occitan: figuièra (oc) f
Old English: fīc m , fīctrēow n , fīcbēam m
Ottoman Turkish: انجیر آغاجی ( incir ağacı )
Persian: انجیر (fa) ( anjir )
Polish: figa (pl) f , figowiec (pl) m , fikus (pl) m
Portuguese: figueira (pt) f
Punjabi: ਅੰਜੀਰ (pa) f ( añjīr )
Quechua: igu , rinaku
Romanian: smochin (ro) m
Russian: инжи́рное де́рево n ( inžírnoje dérevo ) , смоко́вница (ru) f ( smokóvnica ) , фи́говое де́рево n ( fígovoje dérevo )
Samoan: mati (ms)
Sanskrit: उडुम्बर (sa) m ( uḍumbara ) , अञ्जीर (sa) n ( añjīra )
Sardinian: ficu , figu
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: смо̏ква f
Roman: smȍkva (sh) f
Sicilian: ficara (scn) f , àrbulu dâ ficu m , macchia dâ ficu f
Slovak: figovník (sk) m
Spanish: higuera (es) f
Swahili: mtini class 3 /4
Swedish: fikon (sv) , fikonträd (sv) , fikus (sv) c
Sylheti: ꠒꠦꠃꠋꠞꠣ ( ḍeuṅra )
Tagalog: sisiyo , labni , igera
Tahitian: mati
Tamil: அத்தி (ta) ( atti )
Tarifit: tazart f
Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⵣⴰⵔⵜ f ( tazart )
Telugu: అత్తిచెట్టు (te) ( atticeṭṭu )
Thai: มะเดื่อ (th) ( má-dʉ̀ʉa )
Tigre: በለስ ( bäläs )
Tigrinya: በለስ ( bäläs )
Tok Pisin: fik
Tongan: masi
Turkish: incir (tr)
Ukrainian: фі́кус m ( fíkus )
Venetian: figaro (vec) m , figher , figar
Vietnamese: sung (vi)
Volapük: figabim (vo) , figep (vo)
Walloon: fikî (wa) m
Welsh: ffigysbren m
Xhosa: uluzi
Zazaki: ıncılor n
fruit
Abkhaz: алаҳа́ ( alaḥá )
Akkadian: 𒈠 ( tittu )
Alviri-Vidari: اینجیل ( injil ) ( Vidari )
Amharic: በለስ ( bäläs )
Arabic: تِين (ar) m ( tīn ) , بَلَس m ( balas ) ( Yemen )
Egyptian Arabic: تين m ( tīn ) ( collective ) , تينة f ( tīna ) ( singulative )
Moroccan Arabic: كرموس m ( karmūs ) ( collective ) , كرموسة f ( karmūsa ) ( singulative )
Aragonese: figo
Armenian: թուզ (hy) ( tʻuz )
Aromanian: hicã (roa-rup) f
Assamese: ডিমৰু ( dimoru )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܬܹܐܢܵܐ m ( tīna )
Asturian: figu (ast) m
Azerbaijani: əncir (az) , incir (az)
Basque: piku (eu)
Bengali: ডুমুর (bn) ( ḍumur )
Bulgarian: смокиня (bg) f ( smokinja )
Catalan: figa (ca) f
Chechen: инжир ( inžir )
Chichewa: mkungudza , nkhuyu
Chinese:
Cantonese: 無花果 / 无花果 ( mou4 faa1 gwo2 )
Eastern Min: 無花果 / 无花果 ( ù-huă-guō )
Hakka: 無花果 / 无花果 ( vù-fâ-kó )
Hokkien: 無花果 / 无花果 ( bû-hoa-kó ) , 文仙果 ( bûn-sian-kó ) , 映日果 ( iòng-ji̍t-kó ) , 優曇花 / 优昙花 ( iu-thâm-hoe )
Mandarin: 無花果 / 无花果 (zh) ( wúhuāguǒ )
Classical Nahuatl: īcox
Czech: fík (cs) m
Dalmatian: faica f
Danish: figen c
Dutch: vijg (nl) f
Egyptian: (dꜣb )
Elfdalian: fika f
Esperanto: figo (eo)
Estonian: viigimari (et) , viik (et)
Extremaduran: higu
Faroese: fika f
Finnish: viikuna (fi)
French: figue (fr) f
Old French: figue f
Friulian: fîc
Galician: figo (gl) m
Ge'ez: በለስ ( bäläs )
Georgian: ლეღვი ( leɣvi )
German: Feige (de) f
Gothic: 𐍃𐌼𐌰𐌺𐌺𐌰 m ( smakka )
Greek: σύκο (el) n ( sýko )
Ancient: σῦκον n ( sûkon )
Haitian Creole: fig frans
Hausa: ɓaure
Hebrew: תְּאֵנָה (he) f ( tena )
Hindi: अंजीर (hi) ( añjīr )
Hungarian: füge (hu)
Icelandic: fíkja (is) f
Ido: figo (io)
Indonesian: buah ara , buah tin (id)
Irish: fige f
Italian: fico (it) m
Japanese: 無花果 (ja) ( いちじく, ichijiku, むかか, mukaka ) , 映日果 ( いちじく, ichijiku, えいじつか, eijitsuka )
Kalmyk: инҗр ( injr )
Kannada: ಅಂಜೂರ (kn) ( añjūra )
Kashmiri: أنٛجیٖر ( ạnjīr ) , اۆنٛجوٗر ( onjūr )
Khmer: ផ្លែល្វា ( plae lvie )
Korean: 무화과(無花果) (ko) ( muhwagwa )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھەنجیر ( hencîr )
Northern Kurdish: hejîr (ku) f
Ladino: igo
Lao: ໝາກເດື່ອ ( māk dư̄a )
Latin: ficus m or f
Latvian: vīģe f
Laz: ლუღი ( luği )
Ligurian: fîgo m
Lithuanian: figa f
Low German: Fieg f
Luxembourgish: Fig f
Macedonian: смоква ( smokva )
Malagasy: amontana (mg) , aviavy (mg) , voara (mg)
Malay: buah ara , buah tin (id)
Malayalam: അത്തിപ്പഴം ( attippaḻaṁ )
Maltese: tina f
Manx: fig f
Maori: piki
Marathi: अंजीर (mr) n ( añjīr )
Mingrelian: ლუღი ( luɣi )
Navajo: hashkʼaan
Neapolitan: fica f
Ngazidja Comorian: tini class 9 /10
Northern Sami: fiikon
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fiken (no) m
Nynorsk: fiken m
Occitan: figa (oc) f
Old English: fīc m , fīcæppel m
Ottoman Turkish: انجیر ( encir, incir ) , تین ( tin )
Persian: انجیر (fa) ( anjir )
Plautdietsch: Fiej f
Polish: figa (pl) f
Portuguese: figo (pt) m
Punjabi: ਅੰਜੀਰ (pa) f ( añjīr )
Romanian: smochină (ro) f
Romansch: fig m
Russian: инжи́р (ru) m ( inžír ) , смо́ква (ru) f ( smókva ) , фи́га (ru) f ( fíga )
Sanskrit: उडुम्बर (sa) m ( uḍumbara ) , अञ्जीर (sa) n ( añjīra )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: смо̏ква f
Roman: smȍkva (sh) f
Sicilian: ficu (scn) f
Slovak: figa (sk) f
Slovene: figa (sl) f
Somali: tiin
Sorbian:
Upper Sorbian: figa f
Spanish: higo (es) m , breva (es) f
Sranan Tongo: figa
Swahili: tini (sw) class 5 /6
Swedish: fikon (sv)
Sylheti: ꠒꠦꠃꠋꠞꠣ ( ḍeuṅra )
Tagalog: sisiyo , igos
Tajik: анҷир ( anjir )
Talysh: inci
Tamil: அத்தி (ta) ( atti )
Tarifit: tazart f
Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⵣⴰⵔⵜ f ( tazart )
Tat: incil
Telugu: అత్తి పండు (te) ( atti paṇḍu )
Thai: มะเดื่อ (th) ( má-dʉ̀ʉa )
Tigre: በለስ ( bäläs )
Tigrinya: በለስ ( bäläs )
Turkish: incir (tr)
Ukrainian: фі́га (uk) f ( fíha ) , інжи́р (uk) m ( inžýr )
Uzbek: anjir (uz)
Venetian: figo (vec) m
Vietnamese: sung (vi)
Volapük: fig (vo)
Walloon: fike (wa) f
Welsh: ffigysen f
Wolof: xël
Xhosa: uluzi
Yakan: igira
Yiddish: פֿײַג f ( fayg )
Yoruba: ọpọtọ ni
Zazaki: incil n , hêjire (diq)
Zulu: ikhuwu , ikhiwane (zu)
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 (date written), 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 , [ 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.
Etymology 2
Variation of fike .
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