تين

Meaning

fig (fruit and tree)

figs

Ficus

fig

sycamore fig

common cluster fig

Ficus

higuera sicómoro

figuier sycomore

hejîr

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tiːn/

While one might reconstruct a Proto-Semitic *tiʔin-, *taʔin-, which may well be true given the presence of the word in Old Akkadian, that would have yielded a retained glottal stop in Arabic as with بِئْر (biʔr) were the Arabic word inherited vocabulary, for which case also limited fig cultivation in barren Arabia must be considered. Therefore, the present term is deemed to have been borrowed from Aramaic תינה / ܬܝܢܐ (tēnā) – it is left open whether the singulative or collective came first. Compare Arabic بَلَس (balas, “fig”), seemingly borrowed from South Semitic.