fig English · revision 7846

+ Fig, the fruit, comes from Latin through French, while fig, dress, as in “in full fig”, is a 19th-century word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fɪɡ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|fruit}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200|origins=la ficus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English fige, [[bor|fro|figue|t=fig]], fige,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Old Occitan [[m|pro|figa]], from Vulgar Latin *fica, from Latin [[m|la|ficus|alt=fīcus|t=fig tree, fig]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The Latin word, like Greek sûkon and Armenian tʻuz, is probably from a non-Indo-European language of the Mediterranean,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) possibly Semitic (compare Phoenician pagh, a half-ripe fig).^(Etymonline) It replaced Old English fīc, taken directly from Latin, whose descendant fike lasted until about 1500.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The fruit of the fig tree: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The tree itself is from 1382.^(OED 1989) A type of anything small or worthless is from about 1400,^(OED 1989) and the insulting “a fig for ...” from the 1570s, partly from this and partly from the Greek and Italian use of the word as slang for the vulva.^(Etymonline) ''Giving the fig'', Old French faire la figue, was an indecent gesture made by putting the thumb between two fingers.^(Etymonline) A poisoned fig used to kill an enemy is from about 1589.^(OED 1989) The fig leaf, a flimsy disguise, is from the 1550s, after Genesis 3:7.^(Etymonline) Fig Newtons, by 1907, are named after Newton, Massachusetts.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – the fruit.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1382 – the tree.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – something worthless.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – fig leaf.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – a fig for.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tree or shrub of the genus Ficus, especially one grown for its sweet, pear-shaped [[fruit]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The fruit of this tree.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something of little value: ''not care a fig''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fig leaf]]

+ * [[fig tree]]

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+ {{homograph|2|dress}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1823}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of unknown origin;^(MWU 2024) it is said to be short for [[figure]], perhaps from its abbreviation in book illustrations, or according to others from the fig leaves of Adam and Eve.^(Etymonline) MWU suggests that the related verb fig, to adorn, may be an alteration of Middle English fiken.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Dress, equipment, in the phrase ''in full fig'': 1823.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A state of preparedness or physical condition is from 1883.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1823 – in full fig.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1883 – condition.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' Dress; array: ''in full fig''.^(AHD)

+ # ''(informal)'' Physical condition or shape.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sycophant]]

+ * [[figure]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Warwickshire dialect a fig was a fit of temper.^(Wright 1898) Collins notes fig. as an abbreviation of figurative and figure.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}