Indian fig

American  

noun

1. a bushy or treelike cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica, of central Mexico, having large yellow flowers and juicy, red, edible fruit.

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Etymology

Origin of Indian fig

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

And, always, winter’s fog and mist, one of Nepal’s seasonally distinct languages, shrouding the shrines in Pashupatinath, one of the world’s holiest Shiva temples, or cloaking a farmer by the valley’s sacred Indian fig trees.

From New York Times • Mar. 5, 2015

One of these drinks is made from dates; the other from the Indian fig.

From The World and Its People: Book VII Views in Africa by Badlam, Anna B.

The Cactus Opuntiæ, or Indian fig, is here for vulgar tastes; and the Cactus cochinellifera for the Luculluses of the day, who could afford to pay for its rearing.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 332, June, 1843 by Various

Here, too, were to be found the prickly pear or Indian fig, a plant which loves a more southern climate.

From Astoria, or, anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains by Irving, Washington

I accordingly followed him, when, taking up his gourd of water, he led me to a small hut in front of a large and aged pippul-tree, a species of banyan or Indian fig.

From My First Voyage to Southern Seas by Pearse, Alfred