No, a fig is not a true fruit.
Understanding the Fig's Structure
A fig's structure is unique. Instead of developing from the ovary of a single flower, it develops from the receptacle, a part of the flower that holds the ovary. Inside this fleshy receptacle are numerous tiny flowers. This structure is called a synconium. Because the fleshy part we eat is derived from the receptacle and not the ovary, botanically speaking, it's classified as a false fruit or an accessory fruit. The small seeds inside the fig are the true fruits—drupes, to be precise.
Several sources confirm this:
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Source 1: A fig consists of a collection of small flowers or synconium. It develops from the receptacle rather than the ovary of a flower and becomes fleshy when it matures. Thus fig is called a false fruit.
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Source 2: The fig "fruit" (called a synconium) is not actually a flower, but a nearly-closed inflorescence made up of hundreds and hundreds of flowers.
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Source 3: Figs are flowers, not fruit. ... figs are a type of multiple fruit (another example is a pineapple) that forms from the receptacle of a cluster of flowers.
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Source 4: Inside the rounded fruit of a fig tree is a maze of flowers. That is, a fig is not actually a fruit; it is an inflorescence—a cluster of...
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Source 5: Common figs form because the plant seems programmed to make the synconium (the 'fig', not a true fruit from the biologic standpoint but...
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Source 6: The little round seeds encased within the fig's smooth skin are the true fruits, called drupes.
Therefore, while we commonly refer to figs as fruits and enjoy them as such, their botanical classification is a false fruit due to their unique developmental process.
