Brinjal

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbɹɪnd͡ʒəl/

Definitions

1. A vegetable from the nightshade family, recognized for its glossy skin and spongy flesh, that is commonly cooked and consumed in numerous cuisine styles
2. An edible fruit typically purplish in hue, valued for its diverse culinary uses, which include stews and stir-fries
3. A type of nightshade plant cultivated for its edible fruit, often used in dishes across various cuisines, characterized by its smooth purple skin and soft interior flesh

Etymology: The name of this vegetable travelled a remarkably long road. It begins in the Dravidian languages of southern India, where a reconstructed ancestor, Proto-Dravidian "*waẓVtV", lies behind the Sanskrit "vātiṅgaṇa". From there it passed into Classical Persian as "bāzingān", then into Arabic as "bāḏinjān", which Arab traders and writers carried westward. Portuguese sailors and merchants took it up as "beringela", and English borrowed that Portuguese form, so the English name is a traveller that picked up its shape at every stop. Its doublets show the same wandering. "Aubergine" came into English from French, descending from the Catalan form of the same Arabic-derived word, while "melongene" and "malidzano" are other routes the name took through European and Asian languages. Each keeps the same ancient root, but the sounds were reshaped by each language that adopted them.

Synonyms: eggplant, aubergine, vegetable, solanum, nightshade