tomato
English
[edit]


Alternative forms
[edit]- tomatoe (archaic, now nonstandard)
- tomater (eye dialect)
- 'mater (Southern US, Appalachia, informal)
Etymology
[edit]Variant of earlier tomate, from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl, from Proto-Nahuan *toma-tl. Compare tomatillo.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA(key): /təˈmɑː.təʊ/
Audio (UK); [tʰə̥ˈmɑːtʰəʉ̯]: (file) Audio (General Australian); [tʰə̥ˈmɐːtʰɐʉ̯]: (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/, (colloquial, sometimes) /təˈmeɪ.tə/
Audio (California): (file)
- (Canada) IPA(key): [tʰəˈmeɪɾo], [tʰəˈme(ː)to(ː)], [tʰɵ-], [-ma-]
- Rhymes: -ɑːtəʊ, -eɪtəʊ
Noun
[edit]tomato (countable and uncountable, plural tomatoes)
- A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
- The savory fruit of this plant, most often 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: (archaic) golden apple, (archaic) love apple, (obsolete) wolf's peach, tomater, mato, mater
- 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 typical of a ripe tomato.
- tomato:
- (slang) An attractive woman.
- 1999 April 4, Frank Decaro, “No Longer the Punch-Line State”, in The New York Times[1], 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 […] .
- 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 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.
- 2025, Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket, Jonathan Cape, page 19:
- When did this happen last, a tomato he's hardly met going to so much trouble? Ever?
- (slang) A stupid act or person.
Hypernyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]- beefsteak tomato (US)
- beef tomato (UK)
- bitter tomato
- bush tomato
- canned tomatoes
- cherry tomato
- clamato
- 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
- pomato
- porcupine tomato
- potomato
- puréed tomatoes
- Roma tomato
- Sacratomato
- strained tomatoes
- strawberry tomato
- teardrop tomato
- tomacco
- tomatine
- tomatini
- Tomato blistering mosaic tymovirus
- tomato cage
- tomato can
- tomato clownfish
- tomato concentrate
- tomatoey
- tomato fever
- tomato flu
- tomato frog
- tomato fruitworm
- tomato gall
- tomato hornworm
- tomato juice
- tomato knife
- tomatoless
- tomatolike
- tomato moth
- tomatoness
- tomato paste
- tomato-phile
- tomatophile
- tomato pie
- tomato purée
- tomato salad
- tomato sandwich
- tomato sauce
- tomato sphinx
- tomato surprise
- tomato water
- tomato worm
- tomato-y
- tomayto, tomahto
- tomtato
- topepo
- tree tomato
Related terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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Adjective
[edit]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.
Translations
[edit]Verb
[edit]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)
Amis
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Japanese トマト (tomato), from English tomato.
Noun
[edit]tomato
References
[edit]- “537900”, in 阿美語中部方言辭典 [Dictionary of the Central Dialect of Amis][2] (in Chinese), Taiwan: Council of Indigenous Peoples, 2024
Chichewa
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]tomáto class 1a
- tomato
- Synonyms: phwetekere, matimati
Esperanto
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]From Russian томат (tomat), German Tomate, English tomato, French tomate, all from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]tomato (accusative singular tomaton, plural tomatoj, accusative plural tomatojn)
- tomato (fruit)
- tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum)
Derived terms
[edit]- tomata (“made of or related to tomatoes”, adjective)
Further reading
[edit]- “tomato”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
- “tomato”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026
Iban
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]tomato
Ido
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]tomato (plural tomati)
Italian
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Noun
[edit]tomato m (plural tomati)
Japanese
[edit]Romanization
[edit]tomato
Swahili
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]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[3]:
- 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
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]tomato
- tomato
- 1995, John Verhaar, Toward a reference grammar of Tok Pisin: an experiment in corpus linguistics[4], →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
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from English tomato, from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]tomato m (plural tomatoes)
- tomato
- Synonym: afal cariad
Derived terms
[edit]- tomato bach melys (“cherry tomato”)
Mutation
[edit]| radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
|---|---|---|---|
| tomato | domato | nhomato | thomato |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
[edit]- 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
- English terms borrowed from Spanish
- English terms derived from Spanish
- English terms derived from Classical Nahuatl
- English terms derived from Proto-Nahuan
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɑːtəʊ
- Rhymes:English/ɑːtəʊ/3 syllables
- Rhymes:English/eɪtəʊ
- Rhymes:English/eɪtəʊ/3 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with usage examples
- English slang
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Fruits
- en:Tomatoes
- en:Vegetables
- Amis terms borrowed from Japanese
- Amis terms derived from Japanese
- Amis terms derived from English
- Amis lemmas
- Amis nouns
- ami:Fruits
- ami:Nightshades
- ami:Vegetables
- Chichewa terms borrowed from English
- Chichewa terms derived from English
- Chichewa terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chichewa lemmas
- Chichewa nouns
- Chichewa class 1a nouns
- ny:Fruits
- Esperanto terms derived from Russian
- Esperanto terms derived from German
- Esperanto terms derived from English
- Esperanto terms derived from French
- Esperanto terms derived from Spanish
- Esperanto terms derived from Classical Nahuatl
- Esperanto 3-syllable words
- Esperanto terms with IPA pronunciation
- Esperanto terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Esperanto/ato
- Rhymes:Esperanto/ato/3 syllables
- Esperanto lemmas
- Esperanto nouns
- eo:Fruits
- eo:Vegetables
- eo:Tomatoes
- Iban terms borrowed from English
- Iban terms derived from English
- Iban terms with IPA pronunciation
- Iban lemmas
- Iban nouns
- iba:Fruits
- iba:Vegetables
- Ido terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Ido/ato
- Ido lemmas
- Ido nouns
- io:Foods
- Italian terms derived from English
- Italian terms borrowed from English
- Italian terms with audio pronunciation
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian masculine nouns
- Italian terms with rare senses
- Italian informal terms
- Japanese non-lemma forms
- Japanese romanizations
- Swahili terms borrowed from English
- Swahili terms derived from English
- Swahili terms with audio pronunciation
- Swahili lemmas
- Swahili nouns
- Swahili class IX nouns
- Swahili terms with quotations
- sw:Vegetables
- Tok Pisin terms inherited from English
- Tok Pisin terms derived from English
- Tok Pisin lemmas
- Tok Pisin nouns
- Tok Pisin terms with quotations
- tpi:Fruits
- tpi:Nightshades
- tpi:Vegetables
- Welsh terms borrowed from English
- Welsh terms derived from English
- Welsh terms derived from Spanish
- Welsh terms derived from Classical Nahuatl
- Welsh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Welsh lemmas
- Welsh nouns
- Welsh countable nouns
- Welsh masculine nouns
- cy:Fruits
- cy:Nightshades
- cy:Vegetables

