fig

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɪɡ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪɡ

Etymology 1

From Middle English fige, fygge (also fyke, from Old English fīc, see fike), borrowed from Anglo-Norman figue, borrowed from Old French figue, from Old Occitan figa, from Vulgar Latin *fīca (“fig”), from Latin fīcus (“fig tree”), from a pre-Indo European language, perhaps Phoenician 𐤐𐤂 (pg, literally “ripe fig”) (compare Biblical Hebrew פַּגָּה (paggâ, “early fallen fig”), Classical Syriac ܦܓܐ (paggāʾ), dialectal Arabic فَجّ (fajj), فِجّ (fijj)). (Another Semitic root (compare Akkadian 𒈠 (tīʾu, literally “fig”)) was borrowed into Ancient Greek as σῦκον (sûkon) (whence English sycophant; Boeotian τῦκον (tûkon)) and Armenian as թուզ (tʻuz).) The soap-making sense derives from the resemblance of the granulations in and texture of the soap to those of a fig. Doublet of fico.

Noun

fig (plural figs)

1. The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds.
2. A fruit-bearing tree or shrub of the genus Ficus that is native mainly to the tropics.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Genesis 3:7:

     And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

3. The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; a whit.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies.  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     I'll pledge you all; and a fig for Peter!

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 6, in Vanity Fair , London: Bradbury and Evans , published 1848, →OCLC:

     About Rebecca and Jos he did not care a fig.

   • 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:

     J. senses the entente between Eva and me and doesn't like it one fig.

4. The Lady Finger banana, also known as the "fig banana". (Cultivar of Musa acuminata.)
5. (Newfoundland, dated) A raisin (dried grape).
   • figgy duff - boiled pudding with raisins
6. A small piece of tobacco.
   • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 109:

     “You may flog, and welcome, master,” said he, “if you'll give me a fig o' tibbacky.”

   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 289:

     This was followed by his presenting his sable acquaintance with a fig of tobacco, whereupon, instead of thanking the donor in the usual way, the black signified his gratitude by throwing a spear at twenty or thirty yards' distance.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: fik
• → Chuukese: fik
• → Maori: piki

Translations

Verb

fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)

1. (obsolete) To insult with a fico, or contemptuous motion.
   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like / The bragging Spaniard.

2. (obsolete) To put into the head of, as something useless or contemptible.
3. (soap-making, dated) To develop, or cause (a soap) to develop, white streaks or granulations.
   • 1893, Henry Gathmann, American Soaps, page 204:

     For filling figged soaps silicate of potash is best adapted, as soda prevents in a measure the proper crystallization. [...] Artificially figged soap [...makes] a very close imitation of the naturally figged soap.

   • 1897, The National Provisioner, page 27:

     Figging is usually considered to indicate a good quality of soft soap, but such is really not the case. A first-class soft soap can be made which will not fig, while, on the other hand, a poor soap can be produced which will fig.

   • 1938, Harry Bennett, The Standard Book of Formulas:

     In the cold soaps, the water soluble color is added in liquid form after saponification has started. In figged soaps, the color is crutched in after saponification is completed.

Further reading

• fig on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• fig tree on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ficus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Etymology 2

Variation of fike.

Verb

fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)

1. (intransitive) To move suddenly or quickly; rove about.

Derived terms

• figgle

Etymology 3

Noun

fig (plural figs)

1. Abbreviation of figure (“diagram or illustration”).
2. (colloquial, dated) A person's figure; dress or appearance.

Alternative forms

• (abbreviation): fig.

Verb

fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)

1. (colloquial, dated, transitive) To dress; to get oneself up a certain way.

Related terms

• figgery
• go fig
• in full fig

Etymology 4

See figging.

Verb

fig (third-person singular simple present figs, present participle figging, simple past and past participle figged)

1. (transitive, rare) To insert a ginger root into the anus, vagina or urethra of (a horse): to perform figging upon; to feague, to feak.

   Synonym: ginger

   • 1874, The Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal, page 176:

     Ginger, a showy, fast horse — as if he had been figged with ginger under his tail; a red-haired man.

   • 1901, Natal Agriculture Journal, page 744:

     He must be "figged." Figging consists in pushing a piece of crushed ginger into the return of the wretched creature — a practice which is now illegal, and of which information should be given to the R.S.P.C.A. whenever detected.

   • 2015, Becky Lower, The Cotillion Ball Saga, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     “Is something amiss with the horse, Parr?” His gaze left the horse for a second as he glanced at Grace. “Yes, the horse has been figged. Now I just need to figure out who the culprit is.”

Noun

fig (plural figs)

1. The piece of ginger root used in figging.

References

Anagrams

• FGI, GFI, GIF, IGF, gif

Haitian Creole

Etymology

French figue (“fig”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiɡ/

Noun

fig

1. banana

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fik/
• Rhymes: -ik
• Syllabification: fig

Noun

fig

1. genitive plural of figa

Noun

fig

1. genitive plural of figi

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ficus.

Noun

fig m (plural figi)

1. (obsolete) fig tree

Declension

References

• fig in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Volapük

Noun

fig (nominative plural figs)

1. fig

Declension