avocado Hear it!

avocado definition

☆ avo·cado (av′ə kä′dō, ä′və-)

noun pl. avocados -·dos

  1. a widespread, thick-skinned, pear-shaped tropical fruit, yellowish green to purplish black, with a single large seed and yellow, buttery flesh, used in salads; alligator pear
  2. the tree (Persea americana) of the laurel family on which it grows
  3. a yellowish-green color

Etymology: altered (infl. by earlier Sp avocado, now abogado, advocate) < MexSp aguacate < Nahuatl a:wakaλ, avocado, lit., testicle; so named from its shape

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Avocado - Why such an easy word?141 year ago

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