ficus

noun

fi·​cus ˈfī-kəs 

plural ficus or ficuses

: any of a genus (Ficus) of chiefly tropical trees, shrubs, and woody vines of the mulberry family that have deciduous or evergreen leaves, often begin life as epiphytes, and include some (such as F. benjamina) grown as houseplants and others (such as F. carica) cultivated for their oblong or pear-shaped edible syconium fruit : fig entry 1 sense 1b compare banyan, rubber plant, strangler fig, weeping fig

Examples of ficus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While ficus are notorious for their enormous, often invasive network of roots, Laura says the tree’s roots tend to grow out toward the street instead of their house. —Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2025

Hidden among ficus trees in the heart of Avenida Cesar E. Chavez in Boyle Heights sits a vintage store with the evocative name QVO Laboratories. —Amy Contreras, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2025

No windows in the living room, very clean, with black leather furniture and ficus plants that were louche and aquatic beneath soft sprays of track lighting. —Hannah Gold, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025

Other cities have battled in the courts over the preservation of ficus and other trees. —Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin, fig

First Known Use

1693, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ficus

• picus
• ruckus