Fig

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

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

•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  The fruit of a fig tree, which is of round or oblong shape, and of various colors.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]
•  A small piece of tobacco.  [1913 Webster]
•  The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; -- used in scorn or contempt.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

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, v. t. [See Fico, Fig, n.].

•  To insult with a fico, or contemptuous motion. See Fico.  [1913 Webster]

  "When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like
  The bragging Spaniard."  [1913 Webster]
•  To put into the head of, as something useless oL'Estrange.  [1913 Webster]

Fig, n. 

 Figure; dress; array.  [1913 Webster]
"Were they all in full fig, the females with feathers on their heads, the males with chapeaux bras?"  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Fig, 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).

Idiom

fig-leaf
1 a leaf of a fig-tree.
2 a device for concealing something, esp. the genitals (Gen. 3:7).

Fig, n. & v.
--n.
1 dress or equipment (in full fig).
2 condition or form (in good fig).
--v.tr. (figged, figging)
1 (foll. by out) dress up (a person).
2 (foll. by out, up) make (a horse) lively.

Etymology

var. of obs. feague (v.) f. G fegen: see FAKE(1)

THESAURUS

Fig

a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, apparel, array, attire, bagatelle, bauble, bean, bedizenment, bibelot, bit, brass farthing, button, cent, clothes, clothing, costume, curio, drapery, dress, dressing, duds, farce, farthing, fashion, fatigues, feather, feathers, fleabite, folderol, fribble, frippery, garb, garments, gaud, gear, gewgaw, gimcrack, guise, habiliment, habit, hair, halfpenny, hill of beans, investiture, investment, jest, joke, kickshaw, knickknack, knickknackery, linen, minikin, mockery, molehill, peppercorn, picayune, pin, pinch of snuff, pinprick, rags, raiment, rap, red cent, robes, row of pins, rush, shit, snap, sneeshing, sou, sportswear, straw, style, threads, togs, toilette, toy, trifle, trim, trinket, triviality, tuppence, two cents, twopence, vestment, vesture, wear, wearing apparel, whim-wham

ROGET THESAURUS

Fig

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.