[sik-uh-mawr, -mohr] 
| 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. |
syc·a·more (sĭk'ə-môr', -mōr')  (click for larger image in new window) n.
[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.] |
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.
