See also: fig., Fig, and fiğ

English edit

 
A fig (the fruit).
 
A fig (the fruit) in cross-section.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /fɪɡ/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪɡ

Etymology 1 edit

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)).[1] (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 (tʿuz).) 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 edit

fig (plural figs)

  1. The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds. [from 12th c.]
  2. A fruit-bearing tree or shrub of the genus Ficus that is native mainly to the tropics. [from 14th c.]
  3. The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; a whit. [from 15th c.]
  4. The Lady Finger banana, also known as the "fig banana". (Cultivar of Musa acuminata.) [from 16th c.]
  5. (Newfoundland, dated) A raisin (dried grape). [from 18th c.]
  6. A small piece of tobacco. [from 19th c.]
    • 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 edit
Descendants edit
  • Tok Pisin: fik
  • Chuukese: fik
  • Maori: piki
Translations edit

Verb edit

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.
  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. [mid-1800s to mid-1900s]
    • 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 edit

Etymology 2 edit

Variation of fike.

Verb edit

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 edit

Etymology 3 edit

Noun edit

fig (plural figs)

  1. Abbreviation of figure (diagram or illustration).
  2. (colloquial, dated) A person's figure; dress or appearance.
Alternative forms edit
  • (abbreviation): fig.

Verb edit

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 edit

Etymology 4 edit

See figging.

Verb edit

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 edit

fig (plural figs)

  1. The piece of ginger root used in figging.

References edit

  1. ^ Andreas Franz and Wilhelm Schimper, Plant Geography Upon a Physiological Basis, volume 2 (Berlin: Gebrüder Borntraeger, 1902), page 100

Anagrams edit

Haitian Creole edit

Etymology edit

French figue (fig).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

fig

  1. banana

Polish edit

Pronunciation edit

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

Noun edit

fig

  1. genitive plural of figa

Noun edit

fig

  1. genitive plural of figi

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin ficus.

Noun edit

fig m (plural figi)

  1. (obsolete) fig tree

Declension edit

References edit

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

Volapük edit

Noun edit

fig (nominative plural figs)

  1. fig

Declension edit