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Possible definitions for xfig

fig
Any plant of the genus Ficus, in the mulberry family, especially Ficus carica, the common fig. Yielding the well-known figs of commerce, F. carica is native to an area from Asiatic Turkey to N India, but natural seedlings grow in most Mediterranean countries, where figs are used extensively, both fresh and dried. It is a bush or small tree with broad, rough, deciduous leaves (see deciduous tree). Hundreds of different varieties are grown in various parts of the world. The fig was one of the first fruit trees to come under cultivation. Its fruit contains significant amounts of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron.


blight
Any of various plant diseases whose symptoms include sudden and severe yellowing, browning, spotting, withering, or dying of leaves, flowers, fruit, stems, or the entire plant. Usually the shoots and other young, rapidly growing tissues of a plant are attacked. Most blights are caused by bacteria or fungi (see fungus); some result from drought. Fungal and bacterial blights are most likely under cool, moist conditions. Most economically important plants are susceptible to one or more blights. Measures taken to fight blight include destroying the infected plant parts; using disease-free seed or stock and resistant varieties; rotating crops (see crop rotation); pruning and spacing plants for better air circulation; controlling pests that carry the fungus from plant to plant; avoiding overhead watering and working among wet plants; and, where needed, applying fungicides or antibiotics. Maintaining sanitary conditions is the most important measure for stopping the spread of the infestation. See also chestnut blight.


brig
Two-masted sailing ship with square rigging on both masts. Brigs were both naval and mercantile vessels. As merchantmen, they often followed coastal trading routes, but ocean voyages were not uncommon, and some were even used for whaling and sealing. Naval brigs carried 10-20 guns on a single deck. In the 18th-19th cent., they served as couriers for battle fleets and as training vessels for cadets. Brigs of the early U.S. Navy won distinction on the Great Lakes in the War of 1812. Because square rigging required a large crew, merchant brigs became uneconomical, and in the 19th cent. they began to give way to vessels such as the schooner and the bark.


Brigit
In Celtic religion, the goddess of poetry, crafts, prophecy, and divination. She was equivalent to the Roman Minerva and the Greek Athena, and substantially the same as the N British goddess Brigantia. In Ireland she was worshiped by the filid, a poetic and priestly class. She was one of three daughters of Dagda, all named Brigit, the others being associated with healing and the craft of the smith. Some of the lore surrounding Brigit was transferred to the 5th-cent. Irish abbess St. Brigid. Her feast day, February 1, is the date of the pagan festival Imbolc, when the ewes came into ...

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