Figs

[fig] /fɪg/

noun
1.
any tree or shrub belonging to the genus Ficus, of the mulberry family, especially a small tree, F. carica, native to southwestern Asia, bearing a turbinate or pear-shaped fruit that is eaten fresh, preserved, or dried.
2.
the fruit of such a tree or shrub, or of any related species.
3.
any of various plants having a fruit somewhat resembling this.
4.
a contemptibly trifling or worthless amount; the least bit:
His help wasn’t worth a fig.
5.
a gesture of contempt.
[fig] /fɪg/
noun
1.
dress or array:
to appear at a party in full fig.
2.
condition:
to feel in fine fig.
/fɪɡ/
noun
1.
any moraceous tree or shrub of the tropical and subtropical genus Ficus, in which the flowers are borne inside a pear-shaped receptacle
2.
the fruit of any of these trees, esp of F. carica, which develops from the receptacle and has sweet flesh containing numerous seedlike structures
3.
any of various plants or trees having a fruit similar to this
4.
Hottentot fig, sour fig, a succulent plant, Mesembryanthemum edule, of southern Africa, having a capsular fruit containing edible pulp: family Aizoaceae
5.
(used with a negative) something of negligible value; jot: I don’t care a fig for your opinion
6.
(dialect) Also feg. a piece or segment from an orange
7.
Also called fico. an insulting gesture made with the thumb between the first two fingers or under the upper teeth
/fɪɡ/
verb (transitive) figs, figging, figged
1.
foll by out or up. to dress (up) or rig (out)
2.
to administer stimulating drugs to (a horse)
noun
3.
dress, appearance, or array (esp in the phrase in full fig)
4.
physical condition or form: in bad fig
n.

early 13c., from Old French figue (12c.), from Old Provençal figa, from Vulgar Latin *fica, from Latin ficus “fig tree, fig,” from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language, possibly a Semitic one (cf. Phoenician pagh “half-ripe fig”). A reborrowing of a word that had been taken directly from Latin as Old English fic.

The insulting sense of the word in Shakespeare, etc. (A fig for …) is 1570s, in part from fig as “small, valueless thing,” but also from Greek and Italian use of their versions of the word as slang for “vulva,” apparently because of how a ripe fig looks when split open [Rawson, Weekley]. Giving the fig (French faire la figue, Spanish dar la higa) was an indecent gesture of ancient provenance, made by putting the thumb between two fingers or into the mouth, with the intended effect of the modern gesture of “flipping the bird” (see bird (n.3)). See sycophant. Use of fig leaf in figurative sense of “flimsy disguise” (1550s) is from Gen. iii:7.

noun

The amount of money won or lost by a gambler

Related Terms

moldy fig

[1990s+ Gambling; fr figure]
fully integrated groups
fishing industry grants

First mentioned in Gen. 3:7. The fig-tree is mentioned (Deut. 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; Zech. 3:10). Figs were used medicinally (2 Kings 20:7), and pressed together and formed into “cakes” as articles of diet (1 Sam. 30:12; Jer. 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; Isa. 28:4; Hos. 9:10, R.V.), which is ripe about the end of June, dropping off as soon as it is ripe (Nah. 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,” Cant. 2:13; Gr. olynthos, Rev. 6:13, “the untimely fig”), or “winter fig,” which ripens in sheltered spots in spring.

see under not give a damn