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potato (poh-TAY-toh, poh-TAH-toh, let’s call the whole thing off) - n., a South American herb (Solanum tuberosum) of the nightshade family or its edible starchy tuber.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Plus a host of metaphoric extensions related to its shape, mobility, or power. Originally domesticated in southern Peru from the S. brevicaule complex of around 20 species and cultivated throughout the Andes, then spread worldwide by the Spanish. We got the name from Spanish patata, which came in turn from Taíno batata, which actually meant sweet potato, which is an entirely different plant (Ipomoea batatas) of the morning glory family that was domesticated in Ecuador. [Sidebar: Yams are yet another collection of species, most closely related to arrowroot, with the English name coming from any of several possible west African languages.] [Sidebar2: Taro is still another species (Colocasia esculenta) and family (it’s an arum), named from either Maori or Tahitian.] [Sidebar3: So, yeah, potato and tomato are named from completely unrelated languages, and both names originally meant a different thing.]
---L.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Plus a host of metaphoric extensions related to its shape, mobility, or power. Originally domesticated in southern Peru from the S. brevicaule complex of around 20 species and cultivated throughout the Andes, then spread worldwide by the Spanish. We got the name from Spanish patata, which came in turn from Taíno batata, which actually meant sweet potato, which is an entirely different plant (Ipomoea batatas) of the morning glory family that was domesticated in Ecuador. [Sidebar: Yams are yet another collection of species, most closely related to arrowroot, with the English name coming from any of several possible west African languages.] [Sidebar2: Taro is still another species (Colocasia esculenta) and family (it’s an arum), named from either Maori or Tahitian.] [Sidebar3: So, yeah, potato and tomato are named from completely unrelated languages, and both names originally meant a different thing.]
---L.
