Category:Fig

Fig, n. Etym: [F. figue the fruit of the tree, Pr. figa, fr. L. ficus fig tree, fig. Cf. Fico.]

See Figs

1. (Bot.)

Defn: A small fruit tree (Ficus Carica) with large leaves, known from the remotest antiquity. It was probably native from Syria westward to the Canary Islands.

2. The fruit of a fig tree, which is of round or oblong shape, and of various colors.

Note: The fruit of a fig tree is really the hollow end of a stem, and bears numerous achenia inside the cavity. Many species have little, hard, inedible figs, and in only a few does the fruit become soft and pulpy. The fruit of the cultivated varieties is much prized in its fresh state, and also when dried or preserved. See Caprification.

3. A small piece of tobacco. [U.S.]

4. The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; -- used in scorn or contempt. "A fig for Peter." Shak. Cochineal fig. See Conchineal fig. -- Fig dust, a preparation of fine oatmeal for feeding caged birds. -- Fig faun, one of a class of rural deities or monsters supposed to live on figs. "Therefore shall dragons dwell there with the fig fauns." Jer. i. 39. (Douay version). -- Fig gnat (Zoöl.), a small fly said to be injurious to figs. -- Fig leaf, the leaf tree; hence, in allusion to the first clothing of Adam and Eve (Genesis iii.7), a covering for a thing that ought to be concealed; esp., an inadequate covering; a symbol for affected modesty. -- Fig marigold (Bot.), the name of several plants of the genus Mesembryanthemum, some of which are prized for the brilliancy and beauty of their flowers. -- Fig tree (Bot.), any tree of the genus Ficus, but especially F. Carica which produces the fig of commerce.

fig Fig, v. t. Etym: [See Fico, Fig, n.]

1. To insult with a fico, or contemptuous motion. See Fico. [Obs.] When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like The bragging Spaniard. Shak.

2. To put into the head of, as something useless o [Obs.] L'Estrange.

fig Fig, n.

Defn: Figure; dress; array. [Colloq.] Were they all in full fig, the females with feathers on their heads, the males with chapeaux bras Prof. Wilson.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Fig - First mentioned in Genesis 3:7. The fig-tree is mentioned (Deuteronomy 8:8) as one of the valuable products of Palestine. It was a sign of peace and prosperity (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10). Figs were used medicinally (2 Kings 20:7), and pressed together and formed into "cakes" as articles of diet (1 Samuel 30:12; Jeremiah 24:2). Our Lord's cursing the fig-tree near Bethany (Mark 11:13) has occasioned much perplexity from the circumstance, as mentioned by the evangelist, that "the time of figs was not yet." The explanation of the words, however, lies in the simple fact that the fruit of the fig-tree appears before the leaves, and hence that if the tree produced leaves it ought also to have had fruit. It ought to have had fruit if it had been true to its "pretensions," in showing its leaves at this particular season. "This tree, so to speak, vaunted itself to be in advance of all the other trees, challenged the passer-by that he should come and refresh himself with its fruit. Yet when the Lord accepted its challenge and drew near, it proved to be but as the others, without fruit as they; for indeed, as the evangelist observes, the time of figs had not yet arrived. Its fault, if one may use the word, lay in its pretensions, in its making a show to run before the rest when it did not so indeed" (Trench, Miracles). The fig-tree of Palestine (Ficus carica) produces two and sometimes three crops of figs in a year, (1.) the bikkurah, or "early-ripe fig" (Micah 7:1; Isaiah 28:4; Hosea 9:10, R.V.), which is ripe about the end of June, dropping off as soon as it is ripe (Nahum 3:12); (2.) the kermus, or "summer fig," then begins to be formed, and is ripe about August; and (3.) the pag (plural "green figs," Song of Songs 2:13; Gr. olynthos, Revelation 6:13, "the untimely fig"), or "winter fig," which ripens in sheltered spots in spring.