avocado

[av-uh-kah-doh, ah-vuh-] /ˌæv əˈkɑ doʊ, ˌɑ və-/

noun, plural avocados.

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

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

Examples from the web for avocado

The output of the farm is staggering, from ultra sweet pineapples to seven varieties of avocado.
In one village several kids run ahead to show me their avocado, papaya, and lemon trees.
In kitchen décor, avocado and harvest gold had shoved white aside.
Think of it as approximately the fluid equivalent of a ripe, soft, buttery avocado.
Another time it was an avocado inexplicably wrapped in aluminum foil.

British Dictionary definitions for avocado

avocado

/ˌævəˈkɑːdəʊ/

noun (pl) -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

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

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.