Word Stories: sycophant

Steve Taylore-Knowles looks at the stories behind the English language.

My e-mailbag this month contains a complaint from Yiannis Iliopoulos of Kozani, who berates me in most polite terms for neglecting Greek. He’s quite right that the number of references to Greek in this column is not proportional to the undoubted influence of Greek on English. I think that’s because a lot of etymology involving Ancient Greek is more or less obvious to anyone with a smattering of Modern Greek (and I do assume that all my non-Greek readers can manage at least a smattering). I doubt many people want to read about the etymology of psychiatrist or democracy.

So this month I’ve chosen a word whose etymology is more obscure, yet decidedly Greek. Sycophant (mean, servile flatterer) comes directly from συκοφάντης, formed from the roots σύκον (fig) and φαν-, from φαίνειν (to show). So the original Greek term literally meant something like ‘fig-shower’, and was used to mean ‘slanderer, false accuser’. There are three main theories as to how the term came about, and in the lack of any other evidence, it seems that you’re free to choose the one that appeals to you the most.

First up is the idea that it was illegal to export figs from Athens during the many wars with Thebes (some say it was the other way round and that it was illegal to import Theban figs). Anyone who informed the authorities about someone attempting to smuggle figs was a συκοφάντης. The second theory is that figs were a much-prized crop in ancient Athens and so the συκοφάντης was someone who turned in anyone attempting to steal figs.

The third theory is that ‘fig’ actually refers to an insulting, obscene gesture, formed by putting the thumb between the first and second fingers. The συκοφάντης was then someone who ‘showed the fig’ to someone. The modern English phrase not to give a fig (not to care in the least) could be derived from this, or it could be a reference to the fruit as something small or of little worth.

If there are any aspects of English words you've always wondered about, drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll see if I can come up with an answer.