Sycophant

(sik'o-fant.) (From Gr. sykophantès; from su kon, a fig, and pha ino, I inform against.) An obsequious flatterer or parasite. This word was originally used to denote an informer against those who plundered sacred fig-trees, or exported figs contrary to law. Hence in time it came to signify a tale-bearer or informer in general; thence, a flatterer, deceiver, or parasite. [s. 872]