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prettygoodwordavocado (av-uh-KAH-doh, ah-vuh-KAH-doh) - n., a large, usually pear-shaped fruit with green to blackish skin, a single large seed, and soft, light-green pulp, usually eaten raw; the tropical American tree (Persea americana and varieties) that bears it; a dull, yellowish-green color.
The wild ancestor of our domesticated form was native to the state of Puebla, Mexico, where it is called criollo. Adopted in 1697 from Spanish aguacate with sound changes from confusion with abogado, lawyer/advocate (it was also further confused as the alternate form alligator pear), from Mexican Spanish, from āhuacatl, avocado/testicle. (It looks like the testicle meaning comes from the fruit, but it could have gone the other way.)
And that wraps up the theme week. Back next week with the regular mix of unsorted verbiage.
---L.
The wild ancestor of our domesticated form was native to the state of Puebla, Mexico, where it is called criollo. Adopted in 1697 from Spanish aguacate with sound changes from confusion with abogado, lawyer/advocate (it was also further confused as the alternate form alligator pear), from Mexican Spanish, from āhuacatl, avocado/testicle. (It looks like the testicle meaning comes from the fruit, but it could have gone the other way.)
And that wraps up the theme week. Back next week with the regular mix of unsorted verbiage.
---L.
