Fig

/fɪɡ/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds.
  • Grammar: fig is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: figure, a continental, a curse, a damn.
  • Useful contrasts: table, vegetable.
  • Usage evidence: Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree."

How to use "fig"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fig" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fig" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fig" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fig" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "fig" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "figure" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "fig", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds.
  2. 2
    Abbreviation of figure (“diagram or illustration”). abbreviation, alt-of
  3. 3
    The piece of ginger root used in figging.
  4. 4
    a diagram or picture illustrating textual material wordnet
  5. 5
    A fruit-bearing tree or shrub of the genus Ficus that is native mainly to the tropics.

    "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."

Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    A person's figure; dress or appearance. colloquial, dated
  2. 7
    fleshy sweet pear-shaped yellowish or purple multiple fruit eaten fresh or preserved or dried wordnet
  3. 8
    The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; a whit.

    "I'll pledge you all; and a fig for Peter!"

  4. 9
    Mediterranean tree widely cultivated for its edible fruit wordnet
  5. 10
    A Lady Finger banana, also known as the "fig banana", (cultivar of Musa acuminata)
  6. 11
    A raisin (dried grape). Newfoundland, dated

    "figgy duff - boiled pudding with raisins"

  7. 12
    A small piece of tobacco.

    "“You may flog, and welcome, master,” said he, “if you'll give me a fig o' tibbacky.”"

  8. 13
    A fico, a contemptuous gesture.
Verb
  1. 1
    To insult with a fico, a contemptuous gesture. obsolete

    "When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like / The bragging Spaniard."

  2. 2
    To move suddenly or quickly; rove about. intransitive
  3. 3
    Abbreviation of figure (“to calculate; to think; to come to understand”). abbreviation, alt-of
  4. 4
    To insert a ginger root into the anus, vagina or urethra of (a horse): to perform figging upon; to feague, to feak. rare, transitive

    "Ginger, a showy, fast horse — as if he had been figged with ginger under his tail; a red-haired man."

  5. 5
    To put into the head of, as something useless or contemptible. obsolete
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    To dress; to get oneself up a certain way. colloquial, dated, transitive
  2. 7
    To develop, or cause (a soap) to develop, white streaks or granulations. dated

    "For filling figged soaps silicate of potash is best adapted, as soda prevents in a measure the proper crystallization. [...] Artificially figged soap [...makes] a very close imitation of the naturally figged soap."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The 95th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
  2. 2
    Figueroa Street. informal, slang

Synonyms

All synonyms
figurea continentala cursea damna darna hoot

Antonyms

tablevegetable

Example

"Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.""

Common questions

What does "fig" mean?

The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds.

What is a synonym for "fig"?

Common synonyms include: figure, a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot.

How do you use "fig" in a sentence?

Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree."

How do you pronounce "fig"?

Pronounced /fɪɡ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English fige, fygge (also fyke, from Old English fīc, see fike), borrowed from Anglo-Norman figue, borrowed from Old French figue, from Old Occitan figa, from Vulgar Latin *fīca (“fig”), from Latin fīcus (“fig tree”), from a pre-Indo European language, perhaps Phoenician 𐤐𐤂 (pg, literally “ripe fig”) (compare Biblical Hebrew פַּגָּה (paggâ, “early fallen fig”), Classical Syriac ܦܓܐ (paggāʾ), dialectal Arabic فَجّ (fajj), فِجّ (fijj)). (Another Semitic root (compare Akkadian 𒈠 (tīʾu, literally “fig”)) was borrowed into Ancient Greek as σῦκον (sûkon) (whence English sycophant; Boeotian τῦκον (tûkon)) and Armenian as թուզ (tʻuz).) The soap-making sense derives from the resemblance of the granulations in and texture of the soap to those of a fig. Doublet of fico.

Etymology 2

Variation of fike.

Etymology 3

See figging.

More for "fig"

Synonyms

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