avocado

See also: Avocado

English

An avocado

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin American Spanish avocado, from the earlier aguacate, which comes from Classical Nahuatl āhuacatl (“avocado”).^[1] (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) Doublet of abacate. Compare aguacatillo, avocadillo.

The first mention can be found in the 1696 catalogue of Jamaican plants.^[2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ævəˈkɑːdəʊ/
• (General American) enPR: ăvəkäʹdō, IPA^(key): /ɑvəˈkɑdoʊ/, [ɑvəˈkɑɾoʊ], /ævəˈkɑdoʊ/, [ævəˈkɑɾoʊ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːdəʊ

Noun

avocado (countable and uncountable, plural avocados or avocadoes)

2. The large, usually yellowish-green or black, savory fruit of the avocado tree.

   Synonyms: alligator pear, avocado pear, butter pear, butter fruit, abacate

4. The avocado tree, Persea americana, of the laurel family.
5. (chiefly uncountable) A dark chartreuse color, like the color of the skin of an avocado.

   avocado:  

   • 2016, Zadie Smith, Swing Time, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 57:

     It was exactly the same as my bathroom. Same cork floor, same avocado bathroom set.

Hypernyms

• fruit

Derived terms

• avocadoey
• avocado hand
• avocado latte
• avocadoless
• avocadolike
• avocado pear
• avocado toast
• avolatte
• crabocado
• Hass avocado

Descendants

• → Icelandic: avókadó
• → Irish: abhacád
• → Venda: ḽiafukhada
• → Welsh: afocado

Translations

fruit

Afrikaans: avokado (af) Albanian: avokado Amharic: አቮካዶ (ʾävokado) Antillean Creole: zaboka, zabèlbòk Arabic: أَفُوكَادُو m (ʔafukādū) Egyptian Arabic: افوكاتو m pl (avokato) Hijazi Arabic: أفوكادو m (ʔafukādu, ʔavukādu) Moroccan Arabic: أفوكا (ʔavuka) Asi: abokado Assamese: মাখন ফল (makhon phol) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܲܦ̮ܘܿܟܵܕܘܿ m (afōkādō) Asturian: aguacate (ast) m Azerbaijani: avokado (az) Belarusian: авака́да n (avakáda) Bengali: এভোক্যাডো (ebhōkkaḍō), মাখন ফল (makhon phol) Breton: avoukez (br) pl Bulgarian: авока́до (bg) n (avokádo) Burmese: ထောပတ်သီး (my) (htau:patsi:) Catalan: alvocat (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 牛油果 (ngau4 jau4 gwo2) Hokkien: a-bu-kha-lo Mandarin: 鱷梨 / 鳄梨 (zh) (èlí), 酪梨 (zh) (làolí, luòlí), 牛油果 (zh) (niúyóuguǒ) Chol: oñ Cornish: avokado m Czech: avokádo (cs) n Danish: avocado (da) c, avokado c Dutch: avocado (nl) m Esperanto: avokado (eo) Estonian: avokaado (et) Faroese: avokado n Finnish: avokado (fi) French: avocat (fr) m Galician: aguacate (gl) m Georgian: ავოკადო (avoḳado) German: Avocado (de) f Greek: αβοκάντο (el) n (avokánto) Gujarati: માખણફળ (mākhaṇphaḷ) Hawaiian: pea Hebrew: אָבוֹקָדוֹ (he) m (avokado) Hindi: रुचिरा (hi) (rucirā), अवोकाडो m (avokāḍo), मक्खनफल (makkhanphal) Hungarian: avokádó (hu) Icelandic: lárpera f, avókadó (is) n Ido: avokado (io) Indonesian: alpukat (id), avokad (id) Irish: abhacád m, piorra abhcóide m Isthmus Zapotec: yaxhu Italian: avocado (it) m Jamaican Creole: pear Japanese: アボカド (ja) (abokado), 鰐梨 (わになし, waninashi) K'iche': oj Kabuverdianu: abakati, abakate Kapampangan: abukadu Kazakh: авокадо (avokado) Khmer: អាវ៉ូកាត៍ (km) (’aavookaa) Kikuyu: ikorobia class 5 Korean: 아보카도 (ko) (abokado) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: avokado (ku) Kyrgyz: авокадо (avokado) Lao: ໝາກອາໂວກາໂດ (māk ʼā wō kā dō) Latvian: avokado (lv) m Lithuanian: avokadas m Macedonian: авока́до n (avokádo) Malagasy: mpisolovava (mg) Malay: alpukat, avokado, apukat, pukat (ms) Malayalam: ആത്തച്ചക്ക (āttaccakka) Maltese: avokado m Maori: awhekātō, rahopūru (mi) (on account of its appearance), awakato Mongolian: авокадо (avokado) Nahuatl: Central : awakatl (Amecameca and Jaltocán), ahuacatli (Cholula), ahuacatl (Milpa Alta), auakatl (Tlaxcala), ahuakatl (Texcoco) Central Huasteca: auakatl Classical: ahuacatl Eastern Huasteca: awakatl Guerrero: auakatl Highland Puebla: awakat Orizaba: awakatl Western Huasteca: auakatl Navajo: chʼil akʼahí Northern Sami: avokádo Norwegian: Bokmål: avokado (no) m Occitan: avocat (oc) m Persian: آووکادو (fa) (âvokâdo) Pipil: awakat Polish: awokado (pl) n, smaczliwka f (rare) Portuguese: abacate (pt) m Punjabi: ਮੱਖਣ ਫਲ (makkhaṇ phal) Purepecha: kupanda Quechua: palta Romansch: avocado m Russian: авока́до (ru) n (avokádo) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: авокадо Roman: avokado (sh) n Slovak: avokádo n Slovene: avokado (sl) n Somali: canbaruudda Spanish: aguacate (es) m, palta (es) f (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay), cura (es) f (Colombia, dated), avocado (es) m, shunte m (Honduras), shute m, xinene m (shinene) Swahili: parachichi Swedish: avokado (sv) c Tagalog: abokado (tl) Tajik: авокадо (avokado) Tamil: வெண்ணைப் பழம் (ta) (veṇṇaip paḻam) Tatar: авокадо (awoqado) Thai: อาโวคาโด (aa-woo-kaa-dôo), ลูกเนย (lûuk-nəəi) Tigrinya: ኣቮካዶ (ʾavokado) Tok Pisin: bata prut Tongan: 'âvoka Tsonga: ovhakhadi Turkish: avokado (tr) Turkmen: awokado Tz'utujil: ooj Ukrainian: авока́до (uk) n (avokádo) Urdu: مگر ناشپاتی m (magar nāśpātī) Uzbek: avokado (uz) Venda: ḽiafukhada Vietnamese: bơ (vi) Welsh: afocado (cy) m Yiddish: אַוואָקאַדאָ m (avokado) Yucatec Maya: oon

tree

Antillean Creole: pyé zaboka, pyé zabèlbòk Asturian: aguacate (ast) m Bulgarian: авока́до (bg) n (avokádo) Catalan: alvocater m Classical Nahuatl: āhuacacuahuitl Dutch: avocadoboom (nl) m Esperanto: avokadarbo, avokadujo Finnish: avokado (fi), avokadopuu French: avocatier (fr) m Galician: aguacate (gl) m German: Avocado (de) f, Avocadobaum m Greek: αβοκάντο (el) n (avokánto) Ido: avokadiero (io) Irish: abhacád m, crann abhacád m Italian: avocado (it) m Jamaican Creole: pear Kabuverdianu: abakate, abakati Kikuyu: mũkorobia class 3 Latvian: avokado (lv) m Macedonian: авока́до n (avokádo) Malay: pokok avokado Nahuatl: Central: ahuacacuahuitl (Amecameca, Cholula) Central Huasteca: auakakoauitl (Yahualica), auakakuauitl (Huejutla, Xochiatipan) Classical: ahuacacuahuitl Eastern Huasteca: awakakuawitl (Tantoyuca) Orizaba: awakakuawitl Norman: avocatchi m (Jersey) Polish: awokado (pl) n, smaczliwka f (rare) Portuguese: abacateiro (pt) m Romanian: avocado (ro) n Serbo-Croatian: avokado (sh) Spanish: aguacate (es) m, palto (es) m, shunte m (Honduras), shute m, xinene m (shinene) Swahili: mparachichi Swedish: avokadoträd n Tamil: வெண்ணைப் பழ மரம் (veṇṇaip paḻa maram) Thai: อาโวคาโด (aa-woo-kaa-dôo) Tongan: 'âvoka Welsh: afocado (cy) m

color

French: avocat (fr) m Irish: abhacád m, dath an abhacáid Malay: avokado Welsh: afocado (cy), lliw afocado

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Indonesian: (please verify) apokat, (please verify) alpukat (id), (please verify) alpokat (id)

Adjective

avocado (not comparable)

1. Of a dull yellowish-green colour.

Translations

Avocado-coloured

French: avocat (fr) Ido: avokadea Malay: avokado Swedish: avokadofärgad

See also

• guacamole
• Appendix:Colors

References

1. “aguacate”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
2. Hans Sloane (1696) Catalogus plantarum quae in insula Jamaica‎ (in Latin)

Further reading

• avocado on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Persea americana on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Persea americana on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• avocado at USDA Plants database
• Michael Quinion (2004) “Avocado”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.
• cookbook:avocado on Wikibooks.Wikibooks

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

avocado

Wikipedia ^da

Alternative forms

• avokado

Etymology

From Spanish aguacate, from Nahuatl āhuacatl (“avocado”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aʋoˈkʰæːd̥o]

Noun

avocado c (singular definite avocadoen, plural indefinite avocadoer)

1. avocado

Inflection

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	avocado	avocadoen	avocadoer	avocadoerne
genitive	avocados	avocadoens	avocadoers	avocadoernes

Declension of avocado

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish avocado.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌaː.voːˈkaː.doː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: avo‧ca‧do

Noun

avocado m (plural avocado's)

1. avocado, alligator pear

Derived terms

• avocadoboom

Descendants

• → Indonesian: avokad
• → Sranan Tongo: afkati

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

avocado

Wikipedia ^it

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.voˈka.do/
• Rhymes: -ado
• Hyphenation: a‧vo‧cà‧do

Noun

avocado m (invariable)

1. avocado

Portuguese

Participle

avocado (feminine avocada, masculine plural avocados, feminine plural avocadas)

1. past participle of avocar

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English avocado.

Noun

avocado m (plural avocado)

1. avocado

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	avocado	avocadoul		avocado	avocadoi
genitive-dative	avocado	avocadoului		avocado	avocadolor
vocative	avocadoule			avocadolor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aboˈkado/ [a.β̞oˈka.ð̞o]
• Rhymes: -ado
• Syllabification: a‧vo‧ca‧do
• Homophone: abocado

Etymology 1

From aguacate, possibly influenced by a Caribbean language.

Noun

avocado m (plural avocados)

1. (Philippines, US) avocado

   Synonyms: aguacate, (Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay) palta, (Colombia, dated) cura

Descendants

• → Asi: abokado
• → Cebuano: abokado
• → Danish: avocado, avokado
• → Dutch: avocado
  • → Indonesian: avokad
  • → Sranan Tongo: afkati
• → English: avocado
  • → Icelandic: avókadó
  • → Irish: abhacád
  • → Venda: ḽiafukhada
  • → Welsh: afocado
• → Faroese: avokado
• → French: avocat
• → German: Avocado
• → Italian: avocado
• → Hiligaynon: abokado
• → Serbo-Croatian: avokádo
• → Tagalog: abokado
• → Turkish: avokado

Etymology 2

Participle

avocado (feminine avocada, masculine plural avocados, feminine plural avocadas)

1. past participle of avocar

Further reading

• “avocado”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10