figo

Forms

figo (feminine figa, masculine plural fighi, feminine plural fighe, superlative fighissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is the northern form of the slang fico “cool, attractive”, with the /k/ voiced to /g/ as in the northern dialects.^[2][3][4][1] Most dictionaries derive that word from fica “vulva”: Nocentini explains it as a masculine made from the feminine, a crude compliment that women turned on men as men did on women, whose crudeness faded through the association with the word for “fig”.^{[5][2][3][4][6]} GDLI also calls it probably derived from the feminine noun.^[7] Treccani takes it from the word for “fig”, perhaps with reference to the feminine.^[8] Wiktionary instead traces it to a Romanesco clipping of ⟨ficaccio⟩, an altered form of efficace (“effective”), and denies any link with the vulgar noun; the LEI records Romanesco ⟨ficaccia⟩ “effective” in Belli (1835).^[1][9]

The feminine noun itself comes from Late Latin fīca, the plural of fīcum (“fig”) taken as a feminine singular, from fīcus (“fig tree; fig”).^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The slang fico is dated to 1972, and the dictionaries list figo as its regional northern form.^[2][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

GDLI's supplement quotes the word from Pasolini's Roman novels (“sei er mejo figo de la borgata”, “you're the coolest guy in the neighbourhood”) and, from later fiction, both for an attractive or self-assured person and for something fashionable or fun.^[7] In youth slang it praises people and things alike, and Treccani records the diminutives fighetto and fighino for a vain young man.^[4][8] The superlative is fighissimo.^[1]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (slang, especially northern) cool, great; of a person, attractive, likeable or stylish: Il tuo nuovo amico è proprio figo.^[2][3][4][1]
2. (slang) Of a thing or place, fashionable, fun: Abbiamo trovato un locale figo vicino al porto.^[2][3][7]

Noun

1. (slang) An attractive or charismatic man: Si crede un gran figo.^[2][3][4][1]

Word family

• fighetto

Related words

• fico
• fica
• sfigato
• sfiga

Usage notes

In Old Italian figo was also a northern form of fico “fig” (13th–14th centuries); Dante uses it in rhyme.^{[10][11][12][13]} The feminine figa is also a vulgar noun (a variant of fica).^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 235
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1636
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 437
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it