In the Mishna Shvi'it is written: "כלי המיוחד לקוץ בו תאנים קרוי מוקצה". So the word "לקוץ" is related to figs. However, it is known that the Hebrew word that relates to taking off the figs is called "ארייה" (Ariya). So what is the difference between the "לקוץ" and "ארייה" and what is the origin of the word "לקוץ"? Another Hebrew word is "לקרוץ". There is even Mizmor by Ibn Gebirol in Yom Kippur: "קֵרַצְתּוֹ מֵאֲדָמָה. וְנָפַחְתָּ בּוֹ נְשָׁמָה." The word relates to create different forms from the dough. In addition, it has a meaning of wink (eye wink). What is the origin of the word "קרץ" and how the two different meaning are connected?
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As far as I can tell, the work of קיץ תאינם refers to the whole process of picking (ארייה), cutting, drying and storing the figs. See this fascinating article by Ronit Maoz describing the various processes which were done to figs.
See also Melechet Shelomo to the mishnah you cited:
דאין דרך לקיטת התאנים אלא ביד ... דכשמייבשין התאנים קוצעין אותן בכלי של ברזל הנקרא מקצוע והכא קרי לי' מוקצה וקוצעין את עוקציהן כדי לעשותם קציעות ודבלה
Figs are only normally picked by hand ... but, when one is drying figs, one cuts them using a metal implement called מקצוע, here called a מוקצה; one cuts off the stalks in order to process them into various types of pressed dried figs.
In terms of the etymology, we have קיץ meaning summer, when the figs are generally ripe, and also קיץ meaning dried fruit, specifically dried figs, e.g. Samuel II:16:1. It's not clear to me which of these uses came first. It's also possible that the קיץ is related to the words קציצה and קציעה, referring to cutting and pressing the figs to be dried.
קרץ seems to have the original sense of 'pinch'. Thus, one can pinch off a piece of dough in order to form something with it. And one can "pinch" his eyes or lips shut briefly in order to hint at something. See the entries for קרץ in Klein's dictionary.
Joel K
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