Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
tomato
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Variant of earlier tomate, from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl, from Proto-Nahuan *tomatl. Compare tomatillo.
Pronunciation
- (UK, General Australian) IPA(key): /təˈmɑː.təʊ/
Audio (UK); [tʰə̥ˈmɑːtʰəʉ̯]: (file) Audio (General Australian); [tʰə̥ˈmɐːtʰɐʉ̯]: (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/, (colloquial, sometimes) /təˈmeɪ.tə/
- (Canada) IPA(key): [tʰəˈmeɪɾo], [tʰəˈme(ː)to(ː)], [tʰɵ-], [-ma-]
- (Indic) IPA(key): /ʈoˈmæʈo/
- Rhymes: -ɑːtəʊ, -eɪtəʊ, -ætəʊ
Noun
tomato (countable and uncountable, plural tomatoes)
- A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
- The savory fruit of this plant, red when ripe, treated as a vegetable in horticulture and cooking.
- He was chopping a tomato to put in the salad.
- He was eating a tomato when his boss called him.
- Synonyms: (informal) love apple, (obsolete) wolf's peach
- Meronym: lycopene
- 1990, JSG Trading Corp. v. Tray-Wrap, Inc., 917 F.2d 75 (2d Cir. 1990)
- In common parlance tomatoes are vegetables, as the Supreme Court observed long ago [see Nix v. Hedden 149 U.S. 304, 307, 13 S.Ct. 881, 882, 37 L.Ed. 745 (1893)], although botanically speaking they are actually a fruit. [26 Encyclopedia Americana 832 (Int'l. ed. 1981)]. Regardless of classification, people have been enjoying tomatoes for centuries; even Mr. Pickwick, as Dickens relates, ate his chops in "tomata" sauce.
- A shade of red, the colour of a ripe tomato.
- tomato:
- (slang) A desirable-looking woman.
- Look at the legs on that hot tomato!
- 1999 April 4, Frank Decaro, “No Longer the Punch-Line State; Lauryn Hill, the Sopranos and others are unapologetic New Jerseyans.”, in The New York Times, section 9, page 1:
- Deborah Harry, the New Wave goddess, is finally admitting -- after all the peroxide and posturing of the 1970's and 80's -- that she's really just a ''tomato'' (her word) from Paterson, who spent her youth on ''this section of street up in Totowa where all the slutty girls would walk around and meet boys.''
- 2008, Denny Durbin, Lazy Enchiladas: Redefining Success: Tasty Lessons on Love, Life, & Relationships, Bodega Publishing, →ISBN, page 13:
- When she left the room, I asked Robert, “Who's the tomato?” “Marisa. She's from Mexico.” He had a telltale smile on his face.
- 2015 https://www.bustle.com/articles/116384-19-old-fashioned-compliments-we-should-bring-back 19 Old-Fashioned Compliments We Should Bring Back]
- That shirt makes you look like such a glorious tomato.
- 2020, Libba Bray, The King of Crows, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, →ISBN:
- “Who's the tomato?” a cop said as Evie walked past. “Her? She's the stiff's niece,” another cop answered. Evie flinched to hear Will discussed like that. “You wanna clam up?” Malloy barked and the officers fell silent.
- (slang) A stupid act or person.
Hypernyms
Derived terms
- beefsteak tomato (US)
- beef tomato (UK)
- bitter tomato
- bush tomato
- canned tomatoes
- cherry tomato
- cocktail tomato
- currant tomato
- Datterini tomato
- desert tomato
- diced tomatoes
- grape tomato
- heirloom tomato
- heritage tomato
- husk tomato
- Italian plum tomato
- Italian tomato
- mock tomato
- pear tomato
- plum tomato
- puréed tomatoes
- Roma tomato
- strained tomatoes
- strawberry tomato
- teardrop tomato
- Tomato blistering mosaic tymovirus
- tomato can
- tomato clownfish
- tomato concentrate
- tomato fever
- tomato flu
- tomato frog
- tomato fruitworm
- tomato gall
- tomato hornworm
- tomato juice
- tomato knife
- tomato moth
- tomato paste
- tomato-phile
- tomato pie
- tomato purée
- tomato salad
- tomato sandwich
- tomato sauce
- tomato soup
- tomato surprise
- tomato water
- tomato worm
- tomato-y
- tomayto, tomahto
- topepo
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
tomato plant
|
fruit
|
Adjective
tomato (comparative more tomato, superlative most tomato)
- Of a shade of red, the colour of a ripe tomato.
- tomato:
- 1990, Beverley Farmer, “December”, in A Body of Water, Sydney, N.S.W.: Giramondo Publishing, published 2020, →ISBN:
- Her face is on the cover: the Anne Estelle Rice portrait – or the black-eyed Japanese-bobbed head-and-shoulders bit of it – and the square-yoked dress is tomato, or pomegranate, but never persimmon. If it stayed too long in the sun and faded, well yes, maybe then…
- 2011, Jackie Braun, “Most Focused”, in Mr. Right There All Along (Harlequin Romance, #4258; The Fun Factor), Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin, →ISBN, page 220:
- And she’d slathered a heavy layer of foundation over the raw skin of her face with the end result being a complexion that was more tomato than orange.
- 2013, Jillian Cantor, Margot, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, →ISBN, pages 93–94 (chapter 16) and 164 (chapter 26):
- This afternoon, though, she saunters in, draped in a dress the color of a ripe tomato, with a hat to match, her hair twisted underneath in some kind of fashionable up-do that seems impossible to create oneself. […] Penny is sitting there, on the bed, next to me, chewing on the end of the pen, dressed in her frivolous tomato dress.
- 2021, Traci Andrighetti, chapter 9, in Valpolicella Violet (Franki Amato Mysteries; 7), Limoncello Press, →ISBN:
- Intending to tease out Shona’s know-it-all nature by spouting off some trivia, I googled the Pala d’Oro on my phone. It was pure folly, but I was kind of worried about her. “Wikipedia says the cloth has a hundred and eighty-seven enamel plaques depicting Christ and the saints that are decorated with gold, silver, and around two thousand gems.” I peeked at Shona, whose face was tomato, and continued.
Verb
tomato (third-person singular simple present tomatos, present participle tomatoing, simple past and past participle tomatoed)
- (transitive, rare) to pelt with tomatoes
- (transitive, rare) to add tomatoes to (a dish)
Remove ads
Amis
Etymology
Noun
tomato
References
- “Entry #537900”, in 阿美語中部方言辭典 [Dictionary of the Central Dialect of Amis] (in Chinese), Taiwan: Council of Indigenous Peoples, 2021
Chichewa
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
tomáto class 1a
- tomato
- Synonyms: phwetekere, matimati
Esperanto
Etymology
From Russian томат (tomat), German Tomate, English tomato, French tomate, all from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl.
Pronunciation
Noun
tomato (accusative singular tomaton, plural tomatoj, accusative plural tomatojn)
- tomato (fruit)
- tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum)
Derived terms
- tomata (“made of or related to tomatoes”, adjective)
Remove ads
Iban
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
tomato
Ido
Pronunciation
Noun
tomato (plural tomati)
Italian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Noun
tomato m (plural tomati)
Japanese
Romanization
tomato
Swahili
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
tomato class IX (plural tomato class X)
- tomato
- Synonym: nyanya
- 2021 December 16, “Wakenya wapata faraja mashambani baada ya corona kuwatimua mjini”, in BBC News Swahili:
- Alianza kilimo cha malenge, mtama, tomato na sukuma wiki - na sasa anauza bidhaa zake katika soko la nyumbani.
- He started cultivating pumpkin, millet, tomato and sukuma wiki - and now he sells his products in the domestic market.
Tok Pisin
Etymology
Noun
tomato
- tomato
- 1995, John Verhaar, Toward a reference grammar of Tok Pisin: an experiment in corpus linguistics, →ISBN, page 433:
- Mekim olsem pinis, orait tupela i planim taro na banana, na kumu, painap, kon, tomato, na kaukau tu.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Welsh
Etymology
Borrowed from English tomato, from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl.
Pronunciation
Noun
tomato m (plural tomatoes)
- tomato
- Synonym: afal cariad
Derived terms
- tomato bach melys (“cherry tomato”)
Mutation
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “tomato”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Remove ads
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads