sycamore

[ sik-uh-mawr, -mohr ]

/ ˈsɪk əˌmɔr, -ˌmoʊr /

noun

Also called buttonwood. any of several North American plane trees, especially Platanus occidentalis, having shallowly lobed ovate leaves, globular seed heads, and wood valued as timber.

British. the sycamore maple.

a tree, Ficus sycomorus, of the Near East, related to the common fig, bearing an edible fruit.

Nearby words

Origin of sycamore

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sycamore

“A Time to Kill is very autobiographical, and so is Sycamore Row,” Grisham acknowledged.
Still Killing Time: John Grisham Talks Broadway and “Sycamore Row”|Thane Rosenbaum|October 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The two came to America in 1946, and he grew up in Sycamore.
Child-Murder Arrest After 53 Years|Winston Ross|August 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST
In 1977, back-up singer/girlfriend Gloria Jones wrapped their purple Mini around a sycamore tree.
'T-Rex' Will Never Be Extinct|Simon Doonan|August 13, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Lastly the boy turned the magician into a sycamore tree, and won his daughter.
Custom and Myth|Andrew Lang

The flycatchers seemed well suited to the sycamore; they were birds of large ideas and sweeping flights.
A-Birding on a Bronco|Florence A. Merriam
The growth of timber is very fine; the trees are beech, sugar-maple, and sycamore.
The Americans as They Are|Charles Sealsfield
Now, after the meeting of the Sycamore Spring, a new view of matters broke upon Eliphalet's vision.
Quodlibet|John P. Kennedy
With this impaled upon the hook he cautiously approached the pool under the sycamore and cast gently.
Hiram The Young Farmer|Burbank L. Todd

British Dictionary definitions for sycamore

sycamore

/ (ˈsɪkəˌmɔː) /

noun

a Eurasian maple tree, Acer pseudoplatanus, naturalized in Britain and North America, having five-lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and two-winged fruits

US and Canadian an American plane tree, Platanus occidentalisSee plane tree

Also: sycomore a moraceous tree, Ficus sycomorus, of N Africa and W Asia, having an edible figlike fruit

Word Origin for sycamore

C14: from Old French sicamor, from Latin sӯcomorus, from Greek sukomoros, from sukon fig + moron mulberry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sycamore

sycamore

mid-14c., from Old French sicamor, from Latin sycomorus, from Greek sykomoros, from sykon "fig" + moron "mulberry." Or perhaps a folk-etymology for Hebrew 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 1580s 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 reference to the Biblical tree for the sake of clarity.