pomodoro

Forms

pomodoro m (plural pomodori or pomidoro or (popular) pomidori)^[1]

Etymology

It is the phrase pomo d’oro, literally “golden apple”, written as one word: from Italian pomo (“apple”) + di + oro (“gold”).^[2][3][4][1] The phrase was brought into use by the physician Pietro Andrea Mattioli in 1544, in the plural ⟨pomi d’oro⟩.^[3][2][1] Zingarelli and Wiktionary explain the name by the colour of the first fruits known in Europe, which had a golden-yellow skin;^[5][1] Mattioli himself described fruits that ripened “red as blood” on some plants and “the colour of gold” on others.^[6]

The variant pomidoro was remade on the plural ⟨pomi d’oro⟩.^[7][6] The Italian name replaced the borrowing of Spanish tomate, which comes from Classical Nahuatl tomatl and spread through the European languages;^[3][7] the dialects of the north-west kept that word, as Piedmontese tomàtica, Ligurian tumata and Lombard tomàtesa.^[3][6] French tomate is recorded from 1598.^[7][6] The GDLI calls the word an Italian innovation of the centre, the south and the north-east, beside Sicilian pumaramuri “love apple”, which matches French pomme d’amour.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mattioli's commentary on Dioscorides (1544) describes a new kind of plant brought to Italy “in our times”, whose fruits “are called pomi d’oro”: flattened and ribbed like apples, green at first, then red or golden when ripe.^[6][2][3] The name covered both the plant and its fruit from the start.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century Soderini still wrote of pomi d’oro as a plant whose seed had come “from the Indies”, with leaves like the aubergine.^[6][7] The spelling as one word came in the early 19th century: pomo d’oro in Lastri (1801), pomodoro in Targioni Tozzetti (1802–1804) and pomidoro in D'Alberti (1804).^[2][7] Targioni Tozzetti already noted that the fruit was cooked in many ways and served as a seasoning, a use he said the Spanish had introduced.^[6]

Tommaseo's dictionary preferred the plural pomidori and rejected conserva di pomodoro in favour of conserva di pomidoro.^[8] In modern Italian pomodoro is the standard form, with pomidoro as a popular variant, and the word also names the sea anemone pomodoro di mare and, colloquially, the red rear light of a bicycle.^[9][5][4]

The Italian word spread east: it was borrowed as помидор (pomidor), Polish pomidor and Lithuanian pomidòras, and Russian passed it on to Armenian, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Kazakh and other languages.^[1] English has pomodoro as a borrowing too.^[1]

Timeline

• 1544 – Pietro Andrea Mattioli names the plant and its fruit pomi d’oro.^[2][3][4]
• 16th century – Soderini writes of pomi d’oro grown from seed brought “from the Indies”.^[6][7]
• 1598 – French tomate is first recorded.^[7][6]
• 1801 – Lastri writes pomo d’oro.^[2]
• 1802–1804 – Pomodoro as one word appears in Targioni Tozzetti.^[2]
• 1804 – D'Alberti's dictionary records pomidoro.^[2][7]
• 1861 – Tommaseo's dictionary recommends the plural pomidori.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum), an annual climbing herb of the nightshade family from South America, with small yellow flowers.^[4][9][5]
2. Its fruit, a juicy red berry full of seeds, eaten raw or cooked and used for sauces and preserves: Stasera facciamo una pasta al pomodoro.^[4][10][11]
3. (zoology) pomodoro di mare: the beadlet sea anemone (Actinia equina), bright red and common on Mediterranean rocks.^[9][5][11]
4. The red rear light of a bicycle.^[4]

Word family

• impomidorarsi
• pomidoraio
• pomodorata
• pomodorato
• pomodorino
• pomodoretto

Related words

• pomo
• oro
• Spanish tomate

Usage notes

The plural is pomodori;^[9][10][5] pomidoro and the popular pomidori are also used, and pomidoro is a popular singular as well.^[9][10][5] The fixed simile rosso come un pomodoro “red as a tomato” and diventare rosso come un pomodoro describe someone who blushes deeply.^[5][12][9] Al pomodoro means “in tomato sauce”: spaghetti al pomodoro.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3011
8. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli