avocado

[ av-uh-kah-doh, ah-vuh- ]

noun,plural av·o·ca·dos.
  1. Also called alligator pear. a large, usually pear-shaped fruit having green to blackish skin, a single large seed, and soft, light-green pulp, borne by the tropical American tree Persea americana and its variety P. adrymifolia, often eaten raw, especially in salads.

  2. the tree itself.

Origin of avocado

1
1690–1700; alteration of Spanish abogado literally, lawyer (see advocate), by confusion with Mexican Spanish aguacate<Nahuatl āhuacatl avocado, testicle; cf. alligator pear

Words Nearby avocado

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use avocado in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for avocado

avocado

/ (ˌævəˈkɑːdəʊ) /


nounplural -dos
  1. a pear-shaped fruit having a leathery green or blackish skin, a large stony seed, and a greenish-yellow edible pulp

  2. the tropical American lauraceous tree, Persea americana, that bears this fruit

    • a dull greenish colour resembling that of the fruit

    • (as modifier): an avocado bathroom suite

Origin of avocado

1
C17: from Spanish aguacate, from Nahuatl ahuacatl testicle, alluding to the shape of the fruit
  • Also called (for senses 1, 2): avocado pear, alligator pear

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012