tomato (English)

Where does "tomato" come from?

The word tomato finds its roots in the Proto-Nahuan term *toma-tl, meaning 'tomatillo.' It evolved through Classical Nahuatl before being adopted by Spanish as 'tomate,' eventually making its way into English as the familiar 'tomato' we use today.

Full etymology tree

• tomato (English), 'A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.'
  • inherited tomate (English)
    • borrowed tomate (Spanish), 'tomato (plant)'
      • inherited tomatl (Classical Nahuatl), 'a tomatillo, solanaceae family.'
        • inherited *toma-tl (Proto-Nahuan)

Direct ancestors

• tomate (Spanish)
• tomatl (Classical Nahuatl)
• toma- (Proto-Nahuan)

Updated July 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris