avocado
(ɑːvəʊˈkɑːdəʊ, now æv-)
Also 7 avogato, 8 avocato, 9 avigato.
[Sp. avocado advocate, substituted by ‘popular etymology’ for the Aztec ahuacatl (Tylor), of which a nearer form in Sp. is aguacate; F. aguacat and avocat, in Eng. also avigato and, corruptly, alligator (pear).]
a. The fruit of a West Indian tree (Persea gratissima); a large pear-shaped fruit, called also alligator pear.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 203 The Avogato Pear-tree is as big as most Pear-trees..the Fruit as big as a large Lemon. 1763 Grainger Sugar-cane i. 422 And thou green avocato, charm of sense, Thy ripened marrow liberally bestow'st. (Note. The avocato, avocado, avigato, or as the English corruptly call it, Alligator-pear.) 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 30 Much esteemed in the West Indies under the name of the Avocado Pear. 1861 [see alligator2 4]. 1864 Webster, Avigato. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xviii. (Rtlg.) 174 Abbogada pears (better known by the name of subaltern's butter). |
b. The green colour of the flesh of an avocado. In full, avocado green. Also as adj.
| 1947 House & Garden Sept. 89/1 Brighten a dining foyer with a floor of Persimmon plastic tiles, paint its walls Avocado Green, its ceiling white. 1963 New Yorker 15 June 78 Made..of fine Sanforized cotton in..Avocado with Lime, or Black with White. 1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 19 Apr. 12b/1 (Advt.), 1 Hoover portable washer avocado green. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 1 May 3/5 (Advt.), [Lamp-] shade & base in one color: Avocado, Bone White or Ebony. 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. c20/6 (Advt.), Avocado green washer. |