sycophant English · revision 25

+ ==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)

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+ 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)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}