Tomato is Nahuatl tomatl, taken through Spanish, and the Aztec word is said to mean "the swelling fruit," from a verb meaning "to swell." English had it about 1600 as tomate, matching the Spanish; the final -o was probably picked up by analogy with potato, which had arrived in 1565.
The reshaping of the Nahuatl -tl into a Spanish and English -te or -to is the standard repair, visible also in chocolate, coyote and chili. The word's slow acceptance is a story in itself: tomatoes were being eaten in Italy by 1550, but in England and America they were grown only as ornamental plants, since they belong to the nightshade family and were assumed to be poisonous. A 1753 encyclopedia describes the fruit as eaten "by the Spaniards and Italians and by the Jew families of England" — that is, by foreigners.
tomato (n.) 1753, "glossy, fleshy fruit of a garden vegetable native to South America," earlier tomate (c. 1600), from Spanish tomate (mid-16c.) from Nahuatl (Aztecan) tomatl "a tomato," said to mean literally "the swelling fruit," from tomana "to swell." Spelling probably influenced by potato (1565). A member of the nightshade family, all of which contain poisonous alkaloids. Introduced in Europe from the New World, by 1550 they were consumed in Italy but in England they were grown only as ornamental plants and the fruits were not eaten there or in the U.S. The Chambers's Cyclopedia supplement of 1753 describes it as "a fruit eaten either stewed or raw by the Spaniards and Italians and by the Jew families of England." Introduced in U.S. 1789 as part of a program by then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, but not commonly eaten there until after c. 1830. The older English name for it, and the usual one before mid-18c., was love-apple (q.v.). Tomato sauce "preparation made from tomatoes and used in dressing meat, etc." is by 1806. Tomato paste is attested by 1938, tomato juice is attested by 1844; its popularity dates from c. 1930 when it began to be touted as a healthy food. Tomato soup (spelled tomata ) is by 1811. The slang sense of "attractive woman" is by 1922, perhaps on the notion of juicy plumpness, though it may be from the shape (slang tomato , "buttocks" is attested by 1931). also from 1753
tomato came in through Later and wider borrowings, and its spelling follows that family's conventions.
What gives it away on the page
| -tl reshaped into -te | Nahuatl, through Spanish.chocolate, tomato, avocado, coyote, chili |
Placing it without the spelling
| the Americas — ranching, weather, food | Spanishtornado, canyon, chocolate, tomato |
Later and wider borrowings in the spelling guide · guess another word's family