avocado English · revision 136

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌævəˈkɑːdəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /ˌɑvəˈkɑdoʊ/, /ˌævəˈkɑdoʊ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It is [[bor|es|avocado]], altered by folk etymology after Spanish ''avocado'', an earlier form of ''abogado'' “lawyer”,^(AHD)^(RHWU) from earlier [[es|aguacate]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary) [[der|nci|āhuacatl|t=avocado; testicle]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Spanish ''abogado'' “lawyer” is from the same Latin source as [[advocate]].^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Nahuatl ''ahuacatl'' was also compounded in ''ahuacamolli'' “avocado sauce”, the source of [[guacamole]].^(AHD)

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The fruit of a tropical American tree, first recorded in 1697 in the compound ''avogato pear''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word also names the tree itself,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary) and, as a colour name, the dull yellowish green of the fruit, attested by 1945.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1697 – first recorded, as ''avogato pear''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1763 – Etymonline's date for ''avocado''; the corruption ''alligator pear'' is recorded the same year.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1945 – as a colour name.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The pear-shaped fruit of a tropical American tree, with green to blackish skin, a large seed, and soft pale green flesh.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The tree that bears this fruit.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A dull yellowish green.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[avocado pear]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[guacamole]]

+ * [[advocate]]

+ * [[alligator pear]]