avocado

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

noun, plural av·o·ca·dos.

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.

the tree itself.

Origin of avocado

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for avocado

Contemporary Examples of avocado

De Merode sits at a long table and digs into a plate piled with rice, beans, and avocado.
A Belgian Prince, Gorillas, Guerrillas & the Future of the Congo
Nina Strochlic
November 6, 2014
“I have three piles of fundraising,” she said, pushing aside a sliced egg and avocado salad to demonstrate.
Can New York Democrat Zephyr Teachout Stop Governor Andrew Cuomo?
David Freedlander
August 18, 2014
Any time of the day here is good to try tayoyos, an oval-shaped cake made of masa and stuffed with beans and avocado leaves.
The Road to Cinco de Mayo
Tania Lara
May 5, 2014
Chipotle noted in a recent investor letter that they might cut back on their signature guacamole because of avocado scarcity.
America’s Next Agricultural Revolution Will Happen Indoors
Sarah Kunst
April 26, 2014
Of note: The bracketed [a] in the titles means that this is an avocado, as opposed to a male [m] or female [f].
Five Subreddits You May Have Missed, and Probably Still Should Give a Miss
Kelly Williams Brown
April 5, 2014

Historical Examples of avocado

The avocado pear-tree, I should think, has no relations among trees!
Adventures of a Young Naturalist
Lucien Biart
I will be sure to send some avocado plants from Los Angeles to Wardha.
Autobiography of a YOGI
Paramhansa Yogananda
He looks part human and part beetle and has a face the color of the meat of an avocado.
Operation Earthworm
Joe Archibald
In Florida and southern California the avocado or alligator pear is being extensively cultivated.
Trees Worth Knowing
Julia Ellen Rogers
Avocado, a-vo-k′do, n. the alligator-pear, a West Indian fruit.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for avocado

avocado

noun plural -dos

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

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

Also called (for senses 1, 2): avocado pear, alligator pear

Word Origin for avocado

C17: from Spanish aguacate, from Nahuatl ahuacatl testicle, alluding to the shape of the fruit

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

Word Origin and History for avocado

1763, from Spanish avocado, altered (by folk etymology influence of earlier Spanish avocado "lawyer," from same Latin source as advocate (n.)) from earlier aguacate, from Nahuatl ahuakatl "avocado" (with a secondary meaning "testicle" probably based on resemblance), from proto-Nahuan *pawa "avocado." As a color-name, first attested 1945. The English corruption alligator (pear) is 1763, from Mexican Spanish alvacata, alligato.