Wiktionary

potato

English edit

 
An intact potato (vegetable) and a cross-section of a second.
 
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Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Spanish patata, itself borrowed from Taíno batata (“sweet potato”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

potato (countable and uncountable, plural potatoes)

  1. The tuber of a plant, Solanum tuberosum, eaten as a starchy vegetable, particularly in the Americas and Europe; this plant.
    • 1891, “Condensed Replies to Various Letters”, in Leroy M[ilton] Yale, editor, Babyhood: The Mother’s Nursery Guide, Devoted to the Care of Children, volume VII, New York, N.Y., London: Babyhood Publishing Company, page 230, column 2:
      Do not let your child have potato for another year; he will probably take milk well enough after he is weaned.
    • 1912, C[harles] F[ord] Langworthy, Caroline L[ouisa] Hunt, Cheese and Its Economical Uses in the Diet (Farmers’ Bulletin 487), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, page 24:
      The protein value of this dish is equal to that of 1⅛ pounds of potato and beef, the fuel value, however, being much in excess of these.
    • 1915, Annual Report of the Local Government Board for Scotland, page 17:
      A number of the children said that they had potato for breakfast, potato and herring for dinner, potato and milk for supper.
    • 2017, Anthony J. McMichael, Alistair Woodward, Cameron Muir, Climate Change and the Health of Nations, →ISBN, page 213:
      Potatoes were introduced to Ireland in 1590 after being brought to Europe by Spanish conquistadores from their place of origin in the South American Andes.
    • 2021 December 1, Nigel Harris, “St Pancras and King's Cross: 1947”, in RAIL, number 945, page 42:
      The rocketing popularity of potatoes in London's diet led to the conversion of the temporary GNR passenger station north of the canal [...] as a dedicated potato terminal, whose significant traffic was stolen from coastal shipping.
  2. (informal, UK) A conspicuous hole in a sock or stocking.
  3. Metaphor for a person or thing of little value.
    • 1757, [Tobias George Smollett], The Reprisal: Or, The Tars of Old England. […], London: […] R[oberts] Baldwin, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene ii:
      I don't value Monſieur de Champignon a rotten potatoe; […]
    1. (slang, offensive) A mentally handicapped person.
    2. (humorous) A camera that takes poor-quality pictures.
    3. (humorous, slang, computing) An underpowered computer or other device, especially when small in size.
      • 2017 March 17, Steven Messner, “Overwatch community donates PC parts to fan who could barely run it at 800x600”, in PC Gamer‎[1]:
        When most people refer to their computers as a potato they're being hyperbolic, but not Ethan. He plays Overwatch at 800x600 resolution with all settings on low and is excited when he gets 30 fps.
      • 2019 September 22, Benjamin Burns, “Meet the people making music with Mega Drives, Game Boys and gAtaris”, in Eurogamer‎[2]:
        If you want to have a go right now, then Famitracker will let you compose songs for the NES and it'll run on a Windows-operated potato.

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb edit

potato (third-person singular simple present potatoes, present participle potatoing, simple past and past participle potatoed)

  1. (slang, transitive) To hit very hard; to pummel.
    • 2014, James Dixon, Arnold Furious, Bob Dahlstrom, The Raw Files: 1998, page 26:
      Bradshaw doesn't find much humour in it though, and beats the tar out of Dustin, potatoing him with every blow.
  2. (transitive) To hit with a thrown or fired potato.
    • 2017, A. J. Low, Sherlock Sam’s Orange Shorts: Special Edition:
      Yvonne and Lee Swee potatoed Deputy Lestrade multiple times before Sheriff Moran potatoed them both. […] Suddenly, Sheriff Moran heard the click click of an empty weapon. He turned to see that both Mayor Eliza and Kat had run out of ammunition.

Interjection edit

potato

  1. (onomatopoeia, often repeated) The rhythmic sound produced by a V-twin engine—a distinctive deep, throaty exhaust note.

Anagrams edit

Ido edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English potato.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

potato (plural potati)

  1. potato
    Synonym: terpomo

Italian edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /poˈta.to/
  • Rhymes: -ato
  • Hyphenation: po‧tà‧to

Participle edit

potato (feminine potata, masculine plural potati, feminine plural potate)

  1. past participle of potare

Anagrams edit

Latin edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

pōtātō

  1. second/third-person singular future active imperative of pōtō

Quotations edit

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