aubergine

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   egg-shaped vegetable having a shiny skin typically dark purple but occasionally white or yellow

2. 2
   noun

   hairy upright herb native to southeastern Asia but widely cultivated for its large glossy edible fruit commonly used as a vegetable

3. 3
   noun

   An Asian plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its edible purple, green, or white ovoid fruit; eggplant.

4. 4
   noun

   The fruit of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.

5. 5
   noun

   A dark purple colour; eggplant.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French aubergine, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān, “the aubergine”), from Classical Persian بَادِنْجَان (bādinjān), from بَاتِنْگَان (bātingān), from Sanskrit वातिङ्गण (vātiṅgaṇa, “the plant that cures the wind”), from Dravidian, ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *waẓVtV. Cognate with Malayalam വഴുതനങ്ങ (vaḻutanaṅṅa), Hindi बैंगन (baiṅgan). Doublet of brinjal.