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fig¹

(fĭg)

a. Any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Ficus, especially F. carica, native to the Mediterranean region and widely cultivated for its edible multiple fruit.

b. The sweet, hollow, pear-shaped, multiple fruit of this plant, having many tiny seedlike fruits.

a. Any of several plants bearing similar fruit.

b. The fruit of such a plant.

3. A trivial or contemptible amount: not worth a fig.

[Middle English, from Old French figue, from Old Provençal figa, from Vulgar Latin *fīca, from Latin fīcus; possibly akin to Greek sūkon (with Boeotian dialectal variant tūkon) and Armenian t‘uz, fig, all ultimately of Near Eastern or Mediterranean substrate origin.]

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fig¹

common fig

Ficus carica

fig²

(fĭg)

1. Dress; array: in full fig.

2. Physical condition; shape: in fine fig.

[Perhaps from fig, to trot out a horse in lively condition, dress up, variant of feague, to make a horse lively, probably from Dutch vegen, to brush, from Middle Dutch vēghen.]

fig.

abbr.

1. figurative

2. figuratively

3. figure

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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