Calabazas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

  1. Referring to various types of large, round, usually orange fruits of plants from the gourd family often used in cooking or decoration ; representing the Spanish term for pumpkins commonly used in culinary recipes and autumnal festivities ; denoting squash fruits characterized by hard outer shells and soft, edible interiors typically harvested in late summer or fall
  2. Indicating a category of fleshy, edible fruit with thick rinds, usually grown for food and ornamental purposes ; the plural Spanish name for pumpkins which are popular in traditional dishes and seasonal displays ; describing a group of cultivated gourds valued for their culinary versatility and distinct appearance
  3. Signifying a group of large gourds with tough skins and sweet, edible pulp used in cooking or as festive decor ; serving as the plural form in Spanish for pumpkin varieties favored in many dishes and celebrations ; encompassing a range of squash species cultivated primarily for their nutritious flesh and distinctive shapes

Etymology: "Calabazas" is the plural of "calabaza", the Spanish word for pumpkin, squash, or gourd. The singular has a long pedigree in Iberia: it appears in Old Spanish as "calabaça", and its ancestry is thought to run back to a Vulgar Latin form, "calapaccia", though the exact route from Latin to Spanish is uncertain. Earlier still, the word may belong to a pre-Roman substrate of the Iberian Peninsula, which would make it older than Latin itself in that region. English took the word directly from Spanish, so it is a loanword rather than something that passed through French or Latin on its way into the language. Because English speakers encountered the plant largely through Spanish-speaking regions, the word arrived with the crop's own vocabulary rather than being coined from English materials. Its plural form, "calabazas", is what most English readers meet in seasonal recipes and Mexican and Latin American markets, where the word is used for a whole class of squash-type fruits rather than one specific variety.

Synonyms: pumpkins, squashes, gourds, melons, vegetables