What does "fig" mean?

1. (the fruit) a soft, sweet fruit that is shaped like a pear and full of tiny seeds. 2. (something worthless) something of very little value; usually used to say you do not care at all. 3. (abbreviation for figure) a short way to write the word 'figure', often used for pictures in books. 4. (to dress up) to dress yourself in a specific way, especially in smart clothes.

How do you use "fig"?

Almost always appears in the phrase 'not give a fig'. Usually capitalized as 'Fig.' and followed by a number. Usually used as 'figged out' or 'figged up'.

fig

n. · v.

US //ˈfɪɡ// UK //fˈɪɡ// fig

1 the fruit (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

a soft, sweet fruit that is shaped like a pear and full of tiny seeds.

the edible, pear-shaped fruit of the Ficus carica, characterized by a thin skin and numerous small seeds.

Example

She served fresh figs with honey and goat cheese for dessert.

Example

The Mediterranean climate is ideal for cultivating figs, which are often dried to preserve their high sugar content for winter consumption.
2 something worthless (n.)
C1 Advanced Informal Literary

something of very little value; usually used to say you do not care at all.

a thing of negligible value; almost exclusively used in the negative idiom 'not to care/give a fig' to express total indifference.

Example

He said he didn't give a fig what the neighbors thought of his bright pink house.

Example

Despite the mounting public criticism, the minister appeared not to give a fig for the opinions of the press gallery.

Usage

Almost always appears in the phrase 'not give a fig'.
3 abbreviation for figure (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Academic Technical

a short way to write the word 'figure', often used for pictures in books.

a standard abbreviation for 'figure', typically referring to a numbered illustration, diagram, or chart in a text.

Example

Please look at Fig. 1 to see the map of the area.

Example

As demonstrated in Fig. 4.2, the correlation between the two variables remains significant even after adjusting for age.

Usage

Usually capitalized as 'Fig.' and followed by a number.
- illustration
- diagram
4 to dress up (v.)
C2 Proficiency Informal British English Archaic

to dress yourself in a specific way, especially in smart clothes.

to dress or array oneself; most commonly found in the phrasal construction 'to fig out' or 'to fig up'.

Example

He was all figged out in his best suit for the wedding.

Example

The children were grandly figged out for the portrait, though they looked distinctly uncomfortable in their stiff lace collars.

Usage

Usually used as 'figged out' or 'figged up'.
- dress
- outfit

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.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 19, 2026