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sycamore - 5 dictionary results
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syc⋅a⋅more

  [sik-uh-mawr, -mohr]
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–noun
1. Also called buttonwood. any of several North American plane trees, esp. Platanus occidentalis, having shallowly lobed ovate leaves, globular seed heads, and wood valued as timber.
2. British. the sycamore maple.
3. a tree, Ficus sycomorus, of the Near East, related to the common fig, bearing an edible fruit.
Origin:
1300–50; ME sicomore < OF < L sȳcomorus < Gk sȳkómoros, equiv. to sŷko(n) fig + mór(on) mulberry + -os n. suffix, appar. by folk etymology < Sem; cf. Heb shiqmāh sycamore
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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syc·a·more   (sĭk'ə-môr', -mōr')   


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n.  
  1. Any of various deciduous trees of the genus Platanus, especially P. occidentalis of eastern North America, having palmately lobed leaves, ball-like, nodding, hairy fruit clusters, and bark that flakes off in large colorful patches. Also called buttonball, buttonwood.
  2. A Eurasian deciduous maple tree (Acer pseudoplatanus) having palmately lobed leaves, winged fruits, and greenish flowers.
  3. A fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) of Africa and adjacent southwest Asia, mentioned in the Bible, having clusters of figs borne on short leafless twigs.

[Middle English sicamour, a kind of fig tree, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Greek sūkomoros, perhaps of Semitic origin; see šqm in Semitic roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sycamore

Syc"a*more\, n. [L. sycomorus, Gr. ? the fig mulberry; ? a fig + ? the black mulberry; or perhaps of Semitic origin: cf. F. sycomore. Cf. Mulberry.] (Bot.) (a) A large tree (Ficus Sycomorus) allied to the common fig. It is found in Egypt and Syria, and is the sycamore, or sycamine, of Scripture. (b) The American plane tree, or buttonwood. (c) A large European species of maple (Acer Pseudo-Platanus). [Written sometimes sycomore.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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sycamore 
c.1350, from O.Fr. sicamor, from L. sycomorus, from Gk. sykomoros, from sykon "fig" + moron "mulberry." Or perhaps a folk-etymology for Heb. shiqmah "mulberry." A Biblical word, originally used for a species of fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) common in Egypt, Syria, etc., whose leaves somewhat resemble those of the mulberry; applied from 1588 to Acer pseudoplatanus, a large species of European maple, and from 1814 to the North American shade tree that is also called buttonwood (Platanus occidentalis, introduced to Europe from Virginia 1637 by Filius Tradescant). Some writers have used the more Hellenic sycomore in ref. to the Biblical tree for the sake of clarity.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Sycamore

more properly sycomore (Heb. shikmoth and shikmim, Gr. sycomoros), a tree which in its general character resembles the fig-tree, while its leaves resemble those of the mulberry; hence it is called the fig-mulberry (Ficus sycomorus). At Jericho, Zacchaeus climbed a sycomore-tree to see Jesus as he passed by (Luke 19:4). This tree was easily destroyed by frost (Ps. 78:47), and therefore it is found mostly in the "vale" (1 Kings 10:27; 2 Chr. 1:15: in both passages the R.V. has properly "lowland"), i.e., the "low country," the shephelah, where the climate is mild. Amos (7:14) refers to its fruit, which is of an inferior character; so also probably Jeremiah (24:2). It is to be distinguished from our sycamore (the Acer pseudo-platanus), which is a species of maple often called a plane-tree.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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