fig leaf

English

Alternative forms

• fig-leaf (archaic)
• figleaf (noun)

Etymology

From Middle English *figge leef (attested in the plural figge leves), a partial calque of Old English fīclēaf (“fig leaf”). By surface analysis, fig +‎ leaf.

Noun

fig leaf (plural fig leaves)

1. A leaf of the fig plant.
2. A representation of leaf of a fig plant used to cover the genitals of a nude figure in a work of art (alluding to Genesis iii 7, in which Adam and Eve use fig leaves to hide their nakedness).
3. (figuratively) Anything used to conceal something undesirable or that one does not want to be discovered.
   • 2019 July 24, David Austin Walsh, “Flirting With Fascism”, in Jewish Currents‎:

     True, David Brog, one of the organizers of last week’s conference, insisted that national conservatives are not anti-immigrant. But this is a fig leaf. [University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy] Wax explicitly made an argument for limiting the number of nonwhites entering the US.

   • 2022 February 1, Marina Hyde, “Never mind wine fridges, the Tory party is drunk on Kool-Aid”, in The Guardian‎:

     In fact, speaking of paedos, the prime minister chose to use one as a figleaf.

Derived terms

• figleaf (verb)
• fig-leaved
• fig-leafed

Translations