What does caprify mean?
To caprify is to pollinate cultivated fig trees using pollen from the wild caprifig, a practice essential to producing certain varieties of edible figs. Because many prized figs, such as the Smyrna type, cannot set fruit on their own, growers historically relied either on the tiny fig wasp, which carries pollen between trees naturally, or on deliberate intervention — hanging branches of the wild caprifig among the cultivated trees, or transferring pollen by hand. The word derives from the Latin caprificare, built on caprificus, meaning "goat-fig," the wild fig's traditional name, likely a reference to its supposed goaty odor. Caprify is a genuinely technical term, confined almost entirely to botanical writing, histories of agriculture, and accounts of ancient Mediterranean farming. Though obscure today, it preserves a vivid record of one of humanity's oldest examples of managed plant pollination.
verbTo pollinate a cultivated fig with pollen from the wild caprifig tree so that the fruit will set and ripen properly.
- To pollinate cultivated figs with pollen from the caprifig in order to induce the fruit to set.
"In regions without the blastophaga wasp, growers sometimes resort to hand-pollinating the crop, effectively caprifying their figs by brush."
"Ancient growers learned that they could not count on wasps alone and would often caprify their orchards deliberately."
"Without anyone left to caprify the old grove, the Smyrna figs failed to set fruit that season."
"Caprify" comes straight from the Latin for "goat-fig" — because the wild fig tree that makes domestic figs fruitful was thought to smell like goats.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of caprify
Caprify comes from Latin caprificare, formed from caprificus, the "goat-fig" or wild fig tree — a name possibly inspired by the tree's rank, goaty smell. The same Latin root, caper meaning "goat," also gives English such words as capricious, caprine, and Capricorn. The verb entered English as a learned borrowing in horticultural and agricultural writing, where it has always remained a specialized term.
Related word forms
How caprify is actually used
A rare, technical horticultural term encountered mainly in discussions of fig cultivation and classical agriculture; it is not part of everyday vocabulary.
Easily confused with caprify
Certify means to attest or confirm formally, while caprify refers specifically to pollinating fig trees with caprifig pollen.