(ăvˌə-käˈdō, äˌvə-)
noun pl. av·o·ca·dos a. A tropical American tree (Persea americana) having oval or pear-shaped fruit with leathery skin, yellowish-green flesh, and a large seed.
b. The edible fruit of this tree. Also called alligator pear, avocado pear.
- A dull green.
Word History: The history of
avocado takes us back to the Aztecs and their language, Nahuatl, which contained the word
ahuacatl meaning both “fruit of the avocado tree” and “testicle.” The word
ahuacatl was compounded with others, as in
ahuacamolli, meaning “avocado soup or sauce,” from which the Spanish-Mexican word
guacamole derives. In trying to pronounce
ahuacatl, the Spanish who found the fruit and its Nahuatl name in Mexico came up with
aguacate, but other Spanish speakers substituted the form
avocado for the Nahuatl word because
ahuacatl sounded like the early Spanish word
avocado (now
abogado), meaning “lawyer.” In borrowing the Spanish
avocado, first recorded in English in 1697 in the compound
avogato pear (with a spelling that probably reflects Spanish pronunciation), we have lost some traces of the more interesting Nahuatl word.
