fico Italian · revision 39337

+ {{homograph|1|fig}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia quae dicuntur|origins=la ficus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfi.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fico''' ''m'' (plural fichi or (Old Italian) fìcora, diminutive fichìno, augmentative ficóne, pejorative ficàccio, derogatory ficùccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ The Old Italian plural ''ficora'' and the form ''figo'', used by Dante in rhyme, are now obsolete.^(Wiktionary)^(Prati 1951|437)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The fig is [[inh|la|fīcus|t=fig tree; fig]], through the form [[m|la|fīcum]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Latin used the feminine noun for both the tree and the fruit, and a neuter took shape in Late Latin for the fruit; the Romance languages then distinguished the tree in various ways, often with a derivative, as in [[fr|figuier]], [[es|higuera]] and Tuscan [[ficaia]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The word is pan-Romance: [[fro|fi]] (later [[m|fr|figue]], taken from Occitan), [[es|higo]], [[pt|figo]], Logudorese [[m|sc|figu]] and [[rup|hic]]; [[oc|figa]] and [[ca|figa]] are feminine.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin word comes from a language spoken before Indo-European.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) It resembles [[grc|σῦκον|tr=sûkon]] and [[xcl|թուզ|tr=tʻuz]], but not closely enough for a regular correspondence, which points to a loan from a Mediterranean substrate language.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also mentions a possible Semitic source, comparing [[phn|𐤐𐤀𐤂|tr=pʾg|t=half-ripe fig]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian ''Proverbia quae dicuntur'', from the last quarter of the 12th century, where it names the tree.^(TLIO) DELI dates the tree to a Florentine text of 1256 and the fruit to a Florentine register of 1287 and to Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the end of the 13th century the fig stood for something worthless, in negative phrases meaning “nothing at all” (before 1300, Rustico Filippi), as in today's ''non me ne importa un fico secco''.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003) Old Italian also named many kinds by colour and season, such as ''fico fiore'', the early fig, and ''fico secco'', the dried fig.^(TLIO)

+

+ The name was given to swellings shaped like a fig: a fleshy growth on the body and a growth on a horse's foot.^(TLIO)^(Prati 1951|437) DEI treats the medical sense as a learned word modelled on Greek.^(DEI|1633) The ''fico d'India'' (1565), the prickly pear, is so called because it came from the West Indies.^(Nocentini 2010) In Tuscan ''fichi'' are also affectations and coaxing words.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ English borrowed the word as ''fico'' before 1577, also for a trifle and in ''to give the fico'', the gesture of contempt.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The ''Proverbia quae dicuntur'' use the word.^(TLIO)

+ * 1256 – A Florentine text names the fig tree.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1287 – The fruit is named in a Florentine register.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1300 – Rustico Filippi uses ''fico'' for “nothing”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1565 – ''Fico d'India'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1577 – English ''fico'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fig]], the sweet fruit with a soft pulp full of small seeds, eaten fresh or dried: ''A colazione mangiò pane e fichi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The fig tree (''Ficus carica''), a Mediterranean tree with large lobed leaves.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(botany)'' Any tree of the genus ''Ficus''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' In negative phrases, nothing at all: ''non capire un fico''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(veterinary)'' A purulent infection in a horse's [[m|en|hoof]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A badly done darn.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(Tuscan, chiefly plural)'' Affected manners, coaxing.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ficaia]]

+ * [[ficheto]]

+ * [[ficosecco]]

+ * [[ficodindia]]

+ * [[caprifico]]

+ * [[beccafico]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|cool}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=1959|origins=la ficus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfi.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fico''' (feminine fica, masculine plural fichi, feminine plural fiche, superlative fichissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ The regional northern form is [[figo]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The slang word is usually derived from [[fica]] “vulva”: Nocentini explains it as a masculine made from the feminine, a crude compliment that women paid to men as men did to women, whose crudeness faded through its likeness to the word for “fig”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The feminine noun comes from the same [[la|fīcus]].^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) Treccani instead takes it from the word for “fig”, perhaps with reference to the feminine.^(Treccani 2011) Wiktionary traces it to a Romanesco clipping of ⟨ficaccio⟩, an alteration of [[efficace|t=effective]], and denies a link with the vulgar noun; the LEI records Romanesco ⟨ficaccia⟩ “effective” in Belli (1835).^(Wiktionary)^(LEI|21, 235)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Zingarelli dates the slang word to 1959;^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) GRADIT, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli to 1972.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) It praises a person for skill, charm, looks or style.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In youth slang the word praises both people and things that are fashionable or fun, with the superlative ''fichissimo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) Treccani records the diminutives ''fichetto'' and ''fichino'', mostly for a vain young man.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(slang)'' [[m|en|cool]], great; of a person, attractive or stylish: ''Che fico il tuo nuovo motorino!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(slang)'' An attractive or admired person, especially a young man: ''Si crede un gran fico.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fichetto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[figo]]

+ * [[fica]]

+ * [[la|ficus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third ''fico'' (1956), from [[grc|φύκης|tr=phýkēs|t=a fish living among seaweed]], is a fish of the cod family (''Phycis blennioides'') found on muddy sea floors.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) An old ''fico'' “a seaweed used for dye” is a learned word from Greek.^(GDLI|5, 936)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}