Sycophant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sycophant (Gr. συκοφάντης), in ancient Greece was the counterpart of the Roman delator, a public informer.
According to ancient authorities, the word (derived by them from συκο suko, "fig", and φανης fanēs, "to show") meant one who informed against another for exporting figs (which was forbidden by law) or for stealing the fruit of the sacred fig-trees, whether in time of famine or on any other occasion.[citation needed] The Oxford English Dictionary, however, states that this explanation, though common, "cannot be substantiated", and suggests that it may refer instead to the insulting gesture of "making a fig" or to an obscene alternate meaning for "fig".
Another old explanation was that fines and taxes were at one time paid in figs, wine and oil, and those who collected such payments in kind were often called sycophants because they publicly handed them in.[citation needed]
In modern English, the term has come to mean one who seeks to please people in positions of authority or influence in order to gain power themselves, usually at the cost of pride, principles, and peer respect. However, in modern Greek, the term has retained its ancient classical meaning, and is still used to describe a slanderer or a calumniator.
A popular synonym for the English term is "toady" or "toadying", derived from the term "toad eater".[citation needed]
