Main Entry:

to·ma·to

Pronunciation:

\tə-ˈmā-(ˌ)tō; chiefly British, eNewEng, neVirginia, and sometimes elsewhere in cultivated speech -ˈmä-; chiefly Northern -ˈma-\

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural to·ma·toes

Etymology:

alteration of earlier tomate, from Spanish, from Nahuatl tomatl

Date:

1604

1: the usually large rounded typically red or yellow pulpy berry of an herb (genus Lycopersicon) of the nightshade family native to South America2: a plant that produces tomatoes ; especially : one (Lycopersicon esculentum syn. L. lycopersicum) that is a tender perennial widely cultivated as an annual for its edible fruit