tomato
noun
How is tomato pronounced?: Usage Guide
The original pronunciation of this Spanish loanword was with stressed \ä\, as was also the case for potato. The older \ä\ pronunciation of potato is found in Robert Burns' poem "Holy Willie's Prayer" and persists in some Scottish dialects. Perhaps because potato has been part of English longer than tomato, its pronunciation has been anglicized in most dialects, with the stressed \ä\ vowel becoming \ā\, like the a in Plato (from Greek) and dado (from Italian). The pronunciation of tomato began the same journey of anglicization but was halted halfway between, so that British and some Eastern American dialects have the older \ä\ while the others have the newer \ā\. Tomato, being the name of a New World plant, might have entered the English language first in the Americas, where it would have had more time to undergo anglicization in American mouths. The various pronunciations of tomato are all acceptable in standard English.
Examples of tomato in a Sentence
Jacqueline Pinedo, Sacramento Bee, 7 June 2024
Like the other former detainees, Mr. Bakr recalled receiving three meager snacks on most days — typically bread served with small quantities of either cheese, jam or tuna, and occasionally cucumbers and tomatoes.
—Bilal Shbair, New York Times, 6 June 2024
Learn how to make cucumber, tomato, and onion salad.
—Stacey Ballis, Southern Living, 5 June 2024
Andrews suggested using potatoes in place of toast at breakfast or tossing cooled potatoes into your favorite salad with tuna, tomatoes, and chickpeas.
—Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 5 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for tomato 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tomato.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tomato
Cite this Entry
“Tomato.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tomato. Accessed 11 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
derived from Spanish tomate "tomato," from the name for this plant in the ancient language of the Aztecs
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