Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A tropical American tree (Persea americana) having oval or pear-shaped fruit with leathery skin, yellowish-green flesh, and a large seed.
- noun The edible fruit of this tree.
- noun A dull green.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The alligator-pear, the fruit of Persea gratissima, natural order Lauraceœ, a tree common in tropical America and the West Indies.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The pulpy fruit of
Persea gratissima , a tree of tropical America. It is about the size and shape of a large pear; -- called alsoavocado pear ,alligator pear ,midshipman's butter .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The large, usually yellowish-green or black, pulpy
fruit of the avocadotree . - noun The avocado
tree . - noun A dull
yellowish -green colour , the colour of the meat of an avocado. - adjective Of a dull
yellowish -green colour.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of the dull yellowish green of the meat of an avocado
- noun tropical American tree bearing large pulpy green fruits
- noun a pear-shaped tropical fruit with green or blackish skin and rich yellowish pulp enclosing a single large seed
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word avocado comes from "aguacate" in Spanish, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl Mexican native language "ahuacatl", referring to a certain intimate part of the male anatomy.
BBC News - Home 2011
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Native to Mexico, the avocado is available year round, although its peak months are late May to March.
Exotic summer refreshment: a guide to Mexico's tropical fruit 2007
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Native to Mexico, the avocado is available year round, although its peak months are late May to March.
Exotic summer refreshment: a guide to Mexico's tropical fruit 2007
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Although most often used as a vegetable in salads, soups and appetizers, the avocado is a fruit and, more specifically, a single-seed berry.
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Although most often used as a vegetable in salads, soups and appetizers, the avocado is a fruit and, more specifically, a single-seed berry.
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When the avocado is really good, I think that's the best way to serve it.
Guacamole, my way | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2009
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We never played in avocado green polyester shirts.
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The ratio of nutrients to calories in salmon, walnuts and avocado is very, very high.
David Katz, M.D.: Why Calorie Posting Isn't Enough M.D. David Katz 2010
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The avocado is lemon-ish and the green tomato tastes like apple pie!
sweet, not savory! | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2009
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Kitchen appliances began to be mass produced in avocado and gold instead of white, colors and fabrics in clothing were ordained by the designers, and heaven help you if you did not look well in citron the year it was the “in” color.
jean casey | the death of fashion? « poetry dispatch & other notes from the underground 2007
pterodactyl commented on the word avocado
See comments at aphrodisiac.
May 7, 2008
bilby commented on the word avocado
"Having been previously raised by wolves, I'm now learning the little things that only those who are loved get to learn, like how to smile in a photograph and the most efficient way to peel an avocado."
- user NoAffectation, webook.com, 24 Nov 2008.
November 26, 2008
ezola commented on the word avocado
Avocado in French is avocat, which also means attorney.
December 31, 2008
fbharjo commented on the word avocado
perhaps related to bocado spanish for delicacy
February 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word avocado
from Nahuatl "ahuacatl"--testicle.
also, ezola--this website says that the Spanish heard 'ahuacatl' as a word they had already, that is 'avocado' (lawyer). the French is no coincidence.
April 28, 2009
fbharjo commented on the word avocado
Spanish tried to borrow the Nahuatl word for this fruit, ahuacatl "tree testicle", but found it difficult to pronounce. The Nahuatl word was first changed to aguacate, a word seemingly containing agua "water", but later this word was replaced by avocado "lawyer" (abogado today), a word sharing an origin with English advocate.
October 2, 2010
milosrdenstvi commented on the word avocado
In Peru, the word is completely different -- palta.
October 2, 2010
yarb commented on the word avocado
palta is the word in most of South and Central America in my experience.
October 2, 2010
yarb commented on the word avocado
However I'm not sure whether palta refers to the fruit or just to its flesh, the part that you eat.
October 2, 2010
milosrdenstvi commented on the word avocado
I experienced it as referring to both.
October 2, 2010
chained_bear commented on the word avocado
Historical note on William Dampier.
December 28, 2016