Origin story
Passed through Spanish from ahuacatl, the Nahuatl word for avocado.
Why it sticks
A common grocery word with a pre-Columbian root system.
Food
A common grocery word with a pre-Columbian root system.
Passed through Spanish from ahuacatl, the Nahuatl word for avocado.
A common grocery word with a pre-Columbian root system.
A short etymology card for avocado: origin, meaning history, memorable hook, and source-language context.
Use this page as a public web reference, not an official agency record. The linked official source remains the final authority.
Word Origin Atlas. "Avocado Origin and Meaning | Word Origin Atlas". https://www.wordoriginatlas.com/words/avocado/. Reviewed Jul 2026.
Source and citation notes