sycamore, sycomore
(ˈsɪkəmɔə(r))
Forms: 4–7 sicamour, (4 sika-, sicomour, sicomore, syca-, sykamoure, 5 sycomour, -owre, secomoure, sichomure, cicomour, cycomyr, sygamour(e), 6–7 siccamore, sycamour, (6 segamore, 7 sicamor(e, cycamore), 4– sycomore, 7– sycamore.
[a. OF. sic(h)amor, -more, later sicomore, mod.F. sycomore, = It., Sp., Pg. sicomoro, ad. late L. si-, sycomorus, ad. Gr. σῡκόµορος, f. σῦκον fig + µόρον mulberry. The spelling sycamore is the more usual, but sycomore is retained in mod. edd. of the Bible, and is used by some writers in sense 1 for the sake of distinction.]
1. A species of fig-tree, Ficus Sycomorus, common in Egypt, Syria, and other countries, and having leaves somewhat resembling those of the mulberry.
| 13.. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LXXXI. 319/14 In to a treo he wente þerfore, A Sikamour, to seon him þore. 1388 Wyclif Isaiah ix. 10 Thei han kit doun sicomoris. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 4973 Oleues out of lebany..With sichomures & sipresses. c 1440 York Myst. xxv. 427 A nobill tree þou secomoure. 1530 Palsgr. 269/2 Sicomer, frute. Sicomour, tree. 1601 Holland Pliny xiii. vii. I. 389 The Sycomore..is called the ægyptian Figtree. The tree for leafe, bignesse, and barke, is like unto the Mulberie tree. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, World iii, That Sycomore, Whose leaves first sheltred man from drought and dew. 1720 Pope Iliad xxi. 44 As from a sycamore, his sounding steel Lopp'd the green arms to spoke a chariot⁓wheel. 1867 Baker Nile Tribut. i. (1872) 3 We climbed the steep sandy bank and sat down beneath a solitary sycamore. 1910 Mrs. H. M. Tirard Bk. of Dead iii. 73 In Egypt sycomores often grow on the edge of the desert. |
2. A large species of maple,
Acer Pseudoplatanus, introduced into Britain from the Continent, and grown as a shady ornamental tree and for its wood.
Also with distinguishing
adj.,
bastard sycamore,
false sycamore,
vulgar sycamore.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 89 Vnder the coole shade of a Siccamore, I thought to close mine eyes some halfe an houre. 1653 Walton Angler iv. 121 We..sate as quietly..under this Sycamore, as Virgils Tityrus and his Melibœus did under their broad beech tree. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. i. xv. 94 Sycomore, or great Maple. 1728 Bradley Dict. Bot., Sycamore vulgar, i.e. Acer majus. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 329 Sycamore, False, Acer. 1765 Gray Lett., to Wharton (1912) III. 84 The enclosures, that surround the house, are border'd with 3 or 4 ranks of sycomores, ashes, & white poplars of the noblest height. 1777 Lightfoot Flora Scot. (1789) 639 The Great Maple, or Bastard Sycomore. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxxix, Thou, with all thy breadth and height Of foliage, towering sycamore. 1889 A. C. Benson Altar Fire (1907) 89 There were many ancient elms and sycamores forming a small park. |
3. a. In N. America, a plane or tree of the genus
Platanus,
esp. the buttonwood,
P. occidentalis.
| 1814 F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentrionalis 635 Platanus occidentalis... On the banks of rivers: Canada to Florida, and in Louisiana... This tree is known by the name of Button-wood, Water Beech, Sycamore and Plane Tree; in Canada Cotton Tree. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 413 Buttonwood..The tree is known also as Sycamore and Plane-Tree. |
b. In Australia and elsewhere applied (with or without epithet) to various trees: see
quots.| 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v. Melia, M[elia] Azedarach, vulgarly known as the Pride of India, False Sycamore, Holy-tree. Ibid., Sycamore..New South Wales. Brachychiton luridum. 1889 J. H. Maiden Usef. Pl. Australia 368 Achras laurifolia..Called ‘Sycamore’ in Southern New South Wales. Ibid. 410 Cryptocarya obovata.. ‘Sycamore’, ‘White Sycamore’, ‘Bastard Sycamore’. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. s.v. Laurel, Native L[aurel]..Panax elegans..also called Light or White Sycamore. |
4. The wood or timber of the sycamore (usually in sense 2).
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 188 Ther saugh I Colle tregetour Vpon a table of Sygamour Pley an vncouthe thynge to telle. a 1500 Eger & Grine 971 in Furniv. & Hales Percy Folio I. 384 His sadle with sekamoure [printed selc-] was sett. 1506 Paston Lett. III. 408 A payre of beddes of segamore. 1842 Gwilt Archit. §1724 Old houses..floored with sycamore and wainscotted with poplar. |
5. Short for
sycamore-moth (see 6).
| 1843 Westwood Brit. Moths I. 193 Apatela aceris (the sycamore). 1869 Newman Brit. Moths 251/2 The Sycamore (Acronycta Aceris)... This caterpillar feeds on the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus). |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
sycamore fruit,
sycamore key (
key n.1 14),
sycamore leaf;
sycamore-fig, the fig-tree
Ficus Sycomorus, or its fruit;
† sycamore-locust (see
quot.);
sycamore maple = sense 2;
sycamore(-tussock)-moth, a noctuid moth,
Acronycta (
Apatela)
aceris, the larva of which feeds on the sycamore (sense 2).
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 121 Variety of excellent fruites; as orenges, lemons, pomegranats,..*Sicamor figs. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 639 The Sycamore Fig is said to have yielded the wood from which mummy-cases were made. 1899 Marg. Benson & Gourlay Temple of Mut i. 3 Groves of palm mingled with the thicker foliage of the sycamore-fig and tamarisk. |
| 1611 Bible Amos vii. 14, I was an heardman, and a gatherer of *Sycomore fruit. |
| 1657 Austen Fruit Trees i. 138 Setting..Ash-keyes, *Cycamore-keyes. |
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 32 The Sycomore-Locust..is a pretty little yellow Insect, which is bred, and feeds on the *Sycomore-leaves, which at first hath no wings, but six leggs and two horns. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 154 The Leaves are a little less than the Sicamore Leaves. 1887 W. Phillips Brit. Discomycetes 198 Wherever decaying sycamore-leaves are found. |
| 1664 *Sycamore locust [see sycamore leaf above]. |
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 369 Sycamore Tree. *Sycamore Maple. 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 76/2 Acer striatum, the striped-bark maple..frequently grows to thrice its native size, in consequence of being grafted upon the sycamore maple. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl., *Sycamore-moth,..a peculiarly large and beautiful moth,..so called, from its caterpillar feeding on the leaves of the sycamore. 1861 Morris Brit. Moths II. 73 Acronycta Aceris. Sycamore Moth... It feeds on the sycamore and the horse-chesnut. |
| 1749 B. Wilkes Eng. Moths & Butterflies 32 The *Sycamore Tussock-Moth. You may find the Caterpillars on Sycamore Trees. 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 78 The Sycamore Tussock (Apatela Aceris, Stephens) appears the end of June. |
| 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 195 *Sycamore wood. |