You can think of sycamore as a name for a big shade tree rather than as the name of one species. The name started on a fig tree in Egypt, was handed to a European maple, and was handed again to the tall plane trees of North America. What the three trees share is size and deep shade, not family. So the first question a reader asks is not what is a sycamore, but who is writing, and where.
From the word’s history
The Greek name sūkómoros means fig-mulberry: sûkon (fig) plus móron (mulberry). It named the Egyptian fig tree. English took it through Old French around 1350. In the 16th century it was applied to the European maple, and in the early 19th century to plane trees in North America, perhaps because they too give deep shade.
希臘文 sūkómoros 字面是「無花果桑樹」：sûkon（無花果）加 móron（桑樹），指的是埃及那種結果子的大樹。這個字大約在 1350 年前後經由古法文進入英文。十六世紀時被用在歐洲的槭樹上，十九世紀初又被用在北美的懸鈴木上，可能都是因為它們一樣樹大蔭濃。
Wiktionary entry for sycamore, supplied in this packet (kaikki extract, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:815516968:24191).
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