n. 1 a a soft pear-shaped fruit with many seeds, eaten fresh or dried. b (in full fig-tree) any deciduous tree of the genus Ficus, esp. f. carica, having broad leaves and bearing figs. 2 a valueless thing (don't care a fig for). fig-leaf 1 a leaf of a fig-tree. 2 a device for concealing something, esp. the genitals (Gen. 3:7).
[ ME f. OF figue f. Prov. fig(u)a ult. f. L ficus ]