sycophant English · revision 145

5 Oct 2026, 22:05 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈsɪkəfænt/, /ˈsɪkəfənt/^(Wiktionary)
+ 
  ==Etymology==
− Recorded from the 1530s, first in the Latin form ''sycophanta'',^(Etymonline) in the now obsolete sense “informer, slanderer”.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) It is [[bor|la|sȳcophanta|t=informer, slanderer]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|grc|συκοφάντης|tr=sūkophántēs|t=false accuser, slanderer]],^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) literally “fig-shower”,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) [[af|grc|σῦκον|φαίνω|tr1=sûkon|t1=fig|tr2=phaínō|t2=to show]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+ It is [[bor|la|sȳcophanta|t=informer, slanderer]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|grc|συκοφάντης|tr=sūkophántēs|t=false accuser, slanderer]],^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) literally “fig-shower”,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) [[af|grc|σῦκον|φαίνω|tr1=sûkon|t1=fig|tr2=phaínō|t2=to show]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
  
− Why the Greek word had this meaning has not been satisfactorily accounted for; the long-current explanation that it meant an informer against the unlawful export of figs cannot be substantiated.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) It may refer to the obscene gesture of “making a fig”.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ “Informer, talebearer, slanderer” (1530s), a sense now obsolete, at first in the Latin form ''sycophanta''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Why the Greek word had this meaning has not been satisfactorily accounted for; the long-current explanation that it meant an informer against the unlawful export of figs cannot be substantiated.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) It may refer to the obscene gesture of “making a fig”.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The general sense “servile flatterer, parasite”, especially of the powerful, is recorded by the 1570s.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1537 – “informer, slanderer”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1575 – “servile flatterer”.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1579–80 – of the informers of ancient Athens.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1637 – verb, “to flatter meanly”.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A servile, self-seeking flatterer.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(archaic)'' An informer or slanderer.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[sycophantic]]
+ * [[sycophantically]]
+ * [[sycophantism]]
+ * [[sycophantly]]
+ * [[sycophancy]]
+ * [[sycophantish]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[toady]]
+ * [[fig]]
  
  ==References==