Ficus carica
1
8.6
- noun
- /ˈfaɪkəs ˈkɛrɪkə/
- Specialized
- The Ficus carica is known for producing sweet, nutritious figs enjoyed around the world.
Examples
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Farmers in southern Europe grow Ficus carica in both orchards and private gardens.
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I planted a Ficus carica in my garden.
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Botanists often study the Ficus carica for its unique pollination process and fruit development.
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The Ficus carica is known for its sweet figs.
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In many Mediterranean countries, the Ficus carica thrives in warm climates, producing delicious figs.
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The Ficus carica tree can grow up to ten meters tall and is often found in home gardens.
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Many people love to eat fresh figs from the Ficus carica, especially during the late summer harvest.
Synonyms
16
1.3
A tree from the Mediterranean grown for its sweet fruit
9
1.3
A tree that grows sweet pear-shaped fruit you can eat
1
3.1
A tree from warm regions that grows small sweet fruit eaten fresh or dried
A Mediterranean tree that makes sweet edible figs
Surface Forms
Morphology
Ficus + carica
This is a Latin scientific name: 'Ficus' signals the plant genus (so a learner who knows that could infer it denotes a type of fig/tree), but 'carica' is not an ordinary English word and does not transparently convey the specific sense 'edible fig tree'. The binomial form gives partial information (species-of-Ficus) but does not allow a B1 learner to derive the full everyday meaning, so the transparency is only partial.
Etymology
Ficus carica gets its name from Latin: Ficus means 'fig' and carica points to Caria, a region where the tree grew long ago. So the name simply means 'fig from Caria' and explains why it names the species that makes sweet fruit you can eat.