An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Feige

by Friedrich Kluge

Feige, feminine, ‘fig,’ from the equivalent Middle High German vîge, Old High German fîga, feminine, ‘fig’; compare Old Saxon fîga, Dutch vijg; derived, like other South European names of trees and fruits, from Romance Latin (ficus, feminine), or more strictly from North Italian and Provençal figa, whence also French figue. The Anglo-Saxon fîctreów is connected directly with the Latin, the later English form fig-tree being based upon French figue. Compare Pfirsich, Pflaume, Birne, varieties of fruit, which were borrowed in the Old High German period, or even earlier, from the Latin Gothic smakka, ‘fig,’ corresponding to Old Slovenian smokŭ, was obtained from a different source. See Ohrfeige.