σῦκον Ancient Greek · revision 2215

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=Homer, Odyssey|origins=qfa-sub-grc}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /sŷː.kon/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈsy.kon/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈsy.kon/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''σῦκον''' (sûkon) ''n'' (genitive σῡ́κου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Boeotian [[m|grc-boi|τῦκον|tr=tûkon]].^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)

+ Mycenaean [[m|gmy|su-za]], the same as [[συκέα|tr=sukéa]] “fig tree”.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Like Latin [[m|la|fīcus]] and Old Armenian [[m|xcl|թուզ|tr=tʻuz]], it is a borrowing from an unknown Mediterranean or Anatolian language.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Beekes considers this source Pre-Greek, [[der|qfa-sub-grc|-]]: the Boeotian form [[m|grc-boi|τῦκον|tr=tûkon]] beside σῦκον points to an original *tʸuk- with a palatalized initial.^(Beekes 2010)^(Beekes 2014) Scarborough's database rates the non-Greek origin as very reliable.^(PHILOGLOSSA) Martirosyan reconstructs a Mediterranean form *tʰuōiḱo- or *tʰū(i)ḱo-.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The use of the word for the female genitals is a common figurative use of fruit names.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer has it once, in the orchard of Alcinous in the ''Odyssey'', where “fig upon fig” ripens.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940) The fig tree, [[συκέα|tr=sukéa]], is already on the Mycenaean tablets as ''su-za''.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Greek it is the ordinary word for the fig, in Herodotus, comedy and Plato, who speaks of dried figs.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) The “royal figs” were a large kind, and eating figs in the heat of the day was thought to bring on fever.^(LSJ 1940) The fruit gave several proverbs: “to ask for figs” meant to live in luxury, “to look for a fig in winter” a foolish enterprise, and “as different as figs from cress” things wholly unlike;^(LSJ 1940) Lucian's historian should call a fig a fig, that is, speak plainly.^(LSJ 1940) Hesychius explains “to ask for a fig” as “to flatter”.^(Hesychius)

+

+ By its shape the word named a swelling on the eyelid and other growths, in Aristophanes and the Hippocratic writers, and in Aristophanes also the female genitals.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Theophrastus calls the fruit of the carob the “Egyptian fig”.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ In the New Testament figs are not gathered from thistles.^(BDAG 2000) The word lives on in Modern Greek [[m|el|σύκο|tr=síko]], which keeps the saying about calling a fig a fig and a tub a tub.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Πάπυρος) Through Latin it gave the botanical term ''syconus''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Odyssey'' mentions the figs in the orchard of Alcinous.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the fig.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a swelling of the eyelid and for the female genitals.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus calls the carob the “Egyptian fig”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament speaks of figs not gathered from thistles.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 2nd century AD – Lucian says a historian should call a fig a fig.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fig]], the fruit of the fig tree [[συκῆ|tr=sukê]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Αἰγύπτιον σῦκον, the fruit of the [[m|en|carob]].^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A [[m|en|sty]] or [[m|en|wart]] on the eyelid; a similar growth elsewhere.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' The female genitals.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[βούσυκον|tr=boúsūkon]]

+ * [[συκέα|tr=sūkéā]]

+ * [[σύκινος|tr=sū́kinos]]

+ * [[συκόμορος|tr=sūkómoros]]

+ * [[συκοτράγος|tr=sūkotrágos]]

+ * [[συκοφάντης|tr=sūkophántēs]]

+ * [[συκόφυλλον|tr=sūkóphullon]]

+ * [[συκών|tr=sūkṓn]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[συκῆ|tr=sūkê]]

+ * [[νικύλεον|tr=nikúleon]]

+ * [[la|fīcus]]

+ * [[en|sycamore]]

+ * [[en|sycophant]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Hesychius records the proverb “a fig for Hermes”, used of things set out for anyone who wants them, from the custom of offering the first fig to Hermes.^(Hesychius)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}