sycamore English · revision 1035

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɪkəmɔː/ ''(UK)''; /ˈsɪkəmoɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sicamour]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|sicamor]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|la|sȳcomorus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|συκόμορος|tr=sukómoros|t=fig-mulberry]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) as if [[af|grc|σῦκον|μόρον|tr1=sûkon|tr2=móron|t1=fig|t2=black mulberry]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Merriam-Webster, Random House and Weekley take the Greek word as a folk-etymological adaptation of a Semitic word related to Hebrew ''šiqmāh'' “sycamore”.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fig tree of Egypt and Syria with leaves like the mulberry's, the sycamore of the Bible (c. 1350).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The biblical tree was a broad shade tree,^(Etymonline) and in English the name was extended to a large European maple grown for shade (1588),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) perhaps because both were notable for their shade.^(Etymonline) In North America it was applied to the plane tree or buttonwood (1814),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) which is now the main sense in American English.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1350 – the fig tree of Egypt and Syria.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1384 – the wood of the sycamore.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1588 – the European sycamore maple.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1814 – the North American plane tree.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of several North American [[plane tree|alt=plane trees]] of the genus ''Platanus'', especially the [[buttonwood]], with lobed leaves, ball-like fruit clusters and bark that flakes off in patches.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A large Eurasian [[maple]], ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', grown as a shade tree.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[fig]] tree, ''Ficus sycomorus'', of Africa and the Middle East, the sycamore of the [[Bible]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sycophant]]

+ * [[fig]]

+ * [[mulberry]]

+ * [[plane]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}