- tomato (n.) - 1753, earlier tomate (c.1600), from Spanish
tomate (mid-16c.) from Nahuatl tomatl "a tomato," literally "the
swelling fruit," from tomana "to swell." Spelling probably
influenced by potato (1565). A member of the nightshade family,
all of which contain poisonous alkaloids. Introduced in Europe
from the New World, by 1550 they regularly were consumed in
Italy but grown only as ornamental plants in England and not
eaten there or in the U.S. at first. An encyclopedia of 1753
describes it as "a fruit eaten either stewed or raw by the
Spaniards and Italians and by the Jew families of England."
Introduced in U.S. as part of a program by Secretary of State
Thomas Jefferson (1789), but not commonly eaten until after
c.1830. Alternative name love apple and alleged aphrodisiac
qualities have not been satisfactorily explained; perhaps from
Italian name pomodoro, taken as from adorare "to adore," but
probably actually from d'or "of gold" (in reference to color) or
de Moro "of the Moors." Slang meaning "an