tomato

• tomatoe (archaic, now nonstandard)
• tomater (eye dialect)
• 'mater (Southern US, Appalachia, informal)

Variant of earlier tomate, from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl, from Proto-Nahuan *toma-tl. Compare tomatillo.

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /təˈmɑː.təʊ/

  • Audio (UK); [tʰə̥ˈmɑːtʰəʉ̯]:

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  • Audio (General Australian); [tʰə̥ˈmɐːtʰɐʉ̯]:

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• (US) IPA^(key): /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/, (colloquial, sometimes) /təˈmeɪ.tə/

  • Audio (California):

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• (Canada) IPA^(key): [tʰəˈmeɪɾo], [tʰəˈme(ː)to(ː)], [tʰɵ-], [-ma-]
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ʈɵˈmaʈo/, /ʈɵˈmɑʈo/, /ʈɵˈmeʈo/
• Rhymes: -ɑːtəʊ, -eɪtəʊ, -ætəʊ

tomato (countable and uncountable, plural tomatoes)

2. A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
4. The savory fruit of this plant, most often red when ripe, treated as a vegetable in horticulture and cooking.

   He was chopping a tomato to put in the salad.

   He was eating a tomato when his boss called him.

   Synonyms: (archaic) golden apple, (archaic) love apple, (obsolete) wolf's peach

   Meronym: lycopene

   • 1990, JSG Trading Corp. v. Tray-Wrap, Inc., 917 F.2d 75 (2d Cir. 1990)

     In common parlance tomatoes are vegetables, as the Supreme Court observed long ago [see Nix v. Hedden 149 U.S. 304, 307, 13 S.Ct. 881, 882, 37 L.Ed. 745 (1893)], although botanically speaking they are actually a fruit. [26 Encyclopedia Americana 832 (Int'l. ed. 1981)]. Regardless of classification, people have been enjoying tomatoes for centuries; even Mr. Pickwick, as Dickens relates, ate his chops in "tomata" sauce.

6. A shade of red, the colour typical of a ripe tomato.

   tomato:  

8. (slang) An attractive woman.
   • 1999 April 4, Frank Decaro, “No Longer the Punch-Line State”, in The New York Times‎^[1], section 9, page 1:

     Deborah Harry, the New Wave goddess, is finally admitting -- after all the peroxide and posturing of the 1970's and 80's -- that she's really just a ''tomato'' (her word) from Paterson […] .

   • 2008, Denny Durbin, Lazy Enchiladas: Redefining Success: Tasty Lessons on Love, Life, & Relationships, Bodega Publishing, →ISBN, page 13:

     When she left the room, I asked Robert, “Who's the tomato?” “Marisa. She's from Mexico.” He had a telltale smile on his face.

   • 2015 19 Old-Fashioned Compliments We Should Bring Back

     That shirt makes you look like such a glorious tomato.

   • 2020, Libba Bray, The King of Crows, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, →ISBN:

     “Who's the tomato?” a cop said as Evie walked past. “Her? She's the stiff's niece,” another cop answered.

   • 2025, Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket, Jonathan Cape, page 19:

     When did this happen last, a tomato he's hardly met going to so much trouble? Ever?

9. (slang) A stupid act or person.

• fruit, vegetable (see tomato § Fruit or vegetable)
  • berry

• tomatillo

tomato (comparative more tomato, superlative most tomato)

1. Of a shade of red, the colour of a ripe tomato.

   tomato:  

   • 1990, Beverley Farmer, “December”, in A Body of Water, Sydney, N.S.W.: Giramondo Publishing, published 2020, →ISBN:

     Her face is on the cover: the Anne Estelle Rice portrait – or the black-eyed Japanese-bobbed head-and-shoulders bit of it – and the square-yoked dress is tomato, or pomegranate, but never persimmon. If it stayed too long in the sun and faded, well yes, maybe then…

   • 2011, Jackie Braun, “Most Focused”, in Mr. Right There All Along (Harlequin Romance, #4258; The Fun Factor), Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin, →ISBN, page 220:

     And she’d slathered a heavy layer of foundation over the raw skin of her face with the end result being a complexion that was more tomato than orange.

   • 2013, Jillian Cantor, Margot, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, →ISBN, pages 93–94 (chapter 16) and 164 (chapter 26):

     This afternoon, though, she saunters in, draped in a dress the color of a ripe tomato, with a hat to match, her hair twisted underneath in some kind of fashionable up-do that seems impossible to create oneself. […] Penny is sitting there, on the bed, next to me, chewing on the end of the pen, dressed in her frivolous tomato dress.

   • 2021, Traci Andrighetti, chapter 9, in Valpolicella Violet (Franki Amato Mysteries; 7), Limoncello Press, →ISBN:

     Intending to tease out Shona’s know-it-all nature by spouting off some trivia, I googled the Pala d’Oro on my phone. It was pure folly, but I was kind of worried about her. “Wikipedia says the cloth has a hundred and eighty-seven enamel plaques depicting Christ and the saints that are decorated with gold, silver, and around two thousand gems.” I peeked at Shona, whose face was tomato, and continued.

tomato (third-person singular simple present tomatos, present participle tomatoing, simple past and past participle tomatoed)

1. (transitive, rare) to pelt with tomatoes
2. (transitive, rare) to add tomatoes to (a dish)

Borrowed from Japanese トマト (tomato), from English tomato.

tomato

1. tomato

• “537900”, in 阿美語中部方言辭典 [Dictionary of the Central Dialect of Amis]‎^[2] (in Chinese), Taiwan: Council of Indigenous Peoples, 2024

Borrowed from English tomato.

• IPA^(key): /toˈmá.to/

tomáto class 1a

1. tomato

   Synonyms: phwetekere, matimati

From Russian томат (tomat), German Tomate, English tomato, French tomate, all from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl.

• IPA^(key): /toˈmato/

• Audio 1:

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• Audio 2:

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• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: to‧ma‧to

tomato (accusative singular tomaton, plural tomatoj, accusative plural tomatojn)

1. tomato (fruit)
2. tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum)

• tomata (“made of or related to tomatoes”, adjective)

• “tomato”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “tomato”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Borrowed from English tomato.

• IPA^(key): /tomato/

tomato

1. tomato

• IPA^(key): /toˈmato/
• Rhymes: -ato

tomato (plural tomati)

1. tomato

• tomate

Borrowed from English tomato.

• Audio:

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tomato m (plural tomati)

1. (rare) tomato

   Synonym: pomodoro

2. (informal) ketchup

tomato

1. Rōmaji transcription of トマト

Borrowed from English tomato.

• Audio (Kenya):

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tomato class IX (plural tomato class X)

1. tomato

   Synonym: nyanya

   • 2021 December 16, “Wakenya wapata faraja mashambani baada ya corona kuwatimua mjini”, in BBC News Swahili‎^[3]:

     Alianza kilimo cha malenge, mtama, tomato na sukuma wiki - na sasa anauza bidhaa zake katika soko la nyumbani.

     He started cultivating pumpkin, millet, tomato and sukuma wiki - and now he sells his products in the domestic market.

From English tomato.

tomato

1. tomato
   • 1995, John Verhaar, Toward a reference grammar of Tok Pisin: an experiment in corpus linguistics‎^[4], →ISBN, page 433:

     Mekim olsem pinis, orait tupela i planim taro na banana, na kumu, painap, kon, tomato, na kaukau tu.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Borrowed from English tomato, from Spanish tomate, from Classical Nahuatl tomatl.

• IPA^(key): /tɔˈmatɔ/

tomato m (plural tomatoes)

1. tomato

   Synonym: afal cariad

• tomato bach melys (“cherry tomato”)

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “tomato”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies