tomato

/təˈmeɪdoʊ/

/təˈmɑtəʊ/

Other forms: tomatoes

Although usually called a vegetable and eaten as such, the tomato is actually a fruit that can be eaten raw or cooked. It might be red or yellow in various sizes, and comes in shapes from round to pear-shaped.

Since the tomato is native to South America, it makes sense that its name is based in the Spanish tomate, and can be traced to the Aztecs, whose language, Nahuatl, contained the word tomatl, or "the swelling fruit." In 1519, Cortez brought tomato seeds to Spain, where the plant was grown as an ornament but not for eating. The French called them pommes d'amour, or “love apples,” and in 1929 the word became American slang for a pretty girl.

Definitions of tomato

1. noun

   mildly acid red or yellow pulpy fruit eaten as a vegetable
   types:

   beefsteak tomato

   any of several large tomatoes with thick flesh

   cherry tomato

   small red to yellow tomatoes

   plum tomato

   a kind of cherry tomato that is frequently used in cooking rather than eaten raw

   type of:

   solanaceous vegetable

   any of several fruits of plants of the family Solanaceae; especially of the genera Solanum, Capsicum, and Lycopersicon
2. noun

   native to South America; widely cultivated in many varieties
   synonyms: Lycopersicon esculentum, love apple, tomato plant

   types:

   Lycopersicon esculentum cerasiforme, cherry tomato

   plant bearing small red to yellow fruit

   plum tomato

   an Italian variety of cherry tomato that is shaped like a plum

   type of:

   herb, herbaceous plant

   a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests