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How did the eggplant get its name? |
by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author
In some places, an eggplant is also called an “aubergine”!
Eggplant 101
Have you ever seen an eggplant growing in a vegetable garden? If so, then you already know it grows on a vine! Can you name some other fruits or vegetables that grow on vines too? Some examples might be tomatoes and grapes! Can you think of any more?
Did you know that an eggplant is technically a fruit?! Because it comes from the ripe flower of a plant, this delicious veggie is actually a fruit-in-disguise! Do you know of any other vegetables that are technically fruits?? Some examples include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and pumpkins!
When you think of an eggplant, you might picture a deep-purple vegetable shaped kind of like a large pear. But have you ever seen a non-purple eggplant? Some eggplants can be light purple, green, orange, and even white!
Have a grown-up help you look up some pictures of a white eggplant. Now, looking at the picture of the white eggplant, describe what you see. In trying to form your description, do you think calling this white, egg-shaped vegetable an “egg plant” would be such a big stretch?! – That’s how eggplants got their name! Even though today we mostly see and eat purple eggplants, white eggplants were once very common too, and people called this yummy veggie an eggplant because it looked just like an egg growing from a plant!
Have a grown-up help you look up some pictures of a white eggplant. Now, looking at the picture of the white eggplant, describe what you see. In trying to form your description, do you think calling this white, egg-shaped vegetable an “egg plant” would be such a big stretch?! – That’s how eggplants got their name! Even though today we mostly see and eat purple eggplants, white eggplants were once very common too, and people called this yummy veggie an eggplant because it looked just like an egg growing from a plant!
In some places, an eggplant is also called an “aubergine”!
Eggplant 101
Have you ever seen an eggplant growing in a vegetable garden? If so, then you already know it grows on a vine! Can you name some other fruits or vegetables that grow on vines too? Some examples might be tomatoes and grapes! Can you think of any more?
Did you know that an eggplant is technically a fruit?! Because it comes from the ripe flower of a plant, this delicious veggie is actually a fruit-in-disguise! Do you know of any other vegetables that are technically fruits?? Some examples include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and pumpkins!
- “Eggplant.” The George Mateljan Foundation for the World
- “What is a White Eggplant?” Questions & Answers. What’s Cooking America. 15 Feb. 2011
- Harper, Douglas. “Eggplant.” Online Etymology Dictionary. 15 Feb. 2011
Eggplants came from Asia, and were popular in the Near East long before they reached Europe. Then, in the Middle Ages, traders brought a certain kind of eggplant to Europe, a rare white variety shaped just like a chicken egg. So the vegetable was called eggplant, and the name stuck, even when the familiar purple eggplant reached Europe years
later.