1300–50; Middle English sicomore < Old French < Latin sȳcomorus < Greek sȳkómoros, equivalent to sŷko(n) fig + mór(on) mulberry + -os noun suffix, apparently by folk etymology < Semitic; compare Hebrew shiqmāh sycamore
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| sycamore (ˈsɪkəˌmɔː) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a Eurasian maple tree, Acer pseudoplatanus, naturalized in Britain and North America, having five-lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and two-winged fruits |
| 2. | (US), (Canadian) See plane tree an American plane tree, Platanus occidentalis |
| 3. | Also: sycomore a moraceous tree, Ficus sycomorus, of N Africa and W Asia, having an edible figlike fruit |
| [C14: from Old French sicamor, from Latin sӯcomorus, from Greek sukomoros, from sukon fig + moron mulberry] | |
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sycamore
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Sycamore definition
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.
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