Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun 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 pieces.
  • noun A Eurasian deciduous maple tree (Acer pseudoplatanus) having palmately lobed leaves, winged fruits, and greenish flowers.
  • noun A fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) of Africa and adjacent southwest Asia, mentioned in the Bible, having clusters of figs borne on short leafless twigs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The sycamore-fig, Ficus Sycomorus, growing in the lowlands of Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere.
  • noun In England, the sycamore-maple, Acer Pseudo-platanus, the plane-tree of the Scotch.
  • noun In the United States, the buttonwood, Platanus occidentalis, or any of the plane-trees. See plane-tree, 1.
  • noun In New South Wales, Sterculia lurida.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun 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.
  • noun The American plane tree, or buttonwood.
  • noun A large European species of maple (Acer Pseudo-Platanus).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US Any of several North American plane trees, of the genus Platanus, especially Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore).
  • noun UK A large British and European species of maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, known in North America as the sycamore maple.
  • noun A large tree bearing edible fruit, Ficus sycomorus, allied to the common fig and found in Egypt and Syria; also called the sycamore fig or the fig-mulberry; the Biblical sycomore.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of several trees of the genus Platanus having thin pale bark that scales off in small plates and lobed leaves and ball-shaped heads of fruits
  • noun Eurasian maple tree with pale grey bark that peels in flakes like that of a sycamore tree; leaves with five ovate lobes yellow in autumn
  • noun thick-branched wide-spreading tree of Africa and adjacent southwestern Asia often buttressed with branches rising from near the ground; produces cluster of edible but inferior figs on short leafless twigs; the biblical sycamore
  • noun variably colored and sometimes variegated hard tough elastic wood of a sycamore tree

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sicamour, a kind of fig tree, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Greek sūkomoros, perhaps of Semitic origin; see qwm in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Circa 1350, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Ancient Greek συκόμορος (sūkomoros, "fig-mulberry"), from σῦκον (sukon, "fig") + μόρον (moron, "mulberry"). Possibly influenced by Hebrew שִׁקמָה (shiqmah, "mulberry").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sycamore.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • on spotted branch

    of the sycamore

    two black rooks hunch

    from "Prospect," Sylvia Plath

    April 14, 2008

  • "The wood is coarse-grained and inferior, but was made into durable mummy-cases. The tree is good for shade, and is still cultivated for that use in Egypt. Sometimes called Egyptian sycamore or Pharaoh's fig." --Cent. Dict.

    August 17, 2011