I. ˈfig noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English fige, from Old French fige, figue, from Old Provençal figa, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin fica, from Latin ficus fig tree, fig, of non-Indo-European origin; akin to the source of Greek sykon fig, Armenian t'uz
1.
a. : an oblong to pear-shaped or nearly globose edible fruit of warm regions that is greenish, yellowish to orange, or purple when ripe, that has a thick soft skin enclosing a sweet pulp full of tiny seeds, and that is available commercially chiefly dried — see common fig , smyrna fig , syconium
b. obsolete : poison given in a fig
2. or fig tree : a tree of the genus Ficus ; usually : any of the cultivated or escaped trees derived from a tree ( F. carica ) native to southwestern Asia but extensively grown in several varieties in warm regions of the New and Old Worlds for the edible figs that are their fruit — see caprifig
3.
a. Australia : any of several woody plants that resemble fig trees or produce fruits resembling figs: as
(1) : blueberry ash
(2) : a slender twining xerophytic vine ( Marsdenia australis ) that produces pear-shaped fruits sometimes eaten by the aborigines
b. : fig banana
c. : cochineal fig
d. dialect chiefly England : raisin
4. : something resembling the fruit of the fig tree (as piles or a warty excrescence on the frog of a horse's hoof)
5. : a small piece of tobacco
6.
a.
[Middle French figue (in faire la figue make a fig), from Italian fica (in far la fica ), from fica fig, vulva, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin fica fig]
: a gesture or sign of contempt (as thrusting a thumb between two fingers)
b. : the least bit : the merest trifle : particle
he doesn't give a fig for his appearance
who cares a fig for widows swindled in the … real-estate boom — Lee Rogow
— often used interjectionally to express scorn or contempt
a fig for housework! she said to herself — Glenway Wescott
[s]fig.jpg[/s] [
fig 1: leaves and fruit
]
II. transitive verb
( figged ; figged ; figging ; figs )
obsolete : to insult by giving the sign of the fig to
III. intransitive verb
Etymology: perhaps alteration of Middle English fiken — more at fike
now dialect England : to move about restlessly : pace back and forth
IV. transitive verb
( figged ; figged ; figging ; figs )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : to dress or adorn — used with out or up
a richly figged out dowager
2. : to put ginger or pepper in the anus or vagina of (a horse) to stimulate action or improve carriage
V. noun
( -s )
1. : dress , array
the appealing figure of a young woman in dazzling royal full fig — Mollie Panter-Downes
2. : condition , form
in fine fig for a race
VI. abbreviation
1. figurative
2. figure