Chayotli

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A pear-shaped green squash, native to Mesoamerica, that grows on a climbing vine and is eaten as a vegetable
2. The Nahuatl name for the chayote, a tropical gourd-like plant whose edible fruit has a mild, watery flavor
3. A climbing tropical vine of the gourd family, prized for its edible, pear-shaped fruit and tender shoots

Etymology: Chayote, the pear-shaped green squash, takes its name from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs and their neighbours in central Mexico, where "chayotli" was the name for the plant. The Spanish who encountered it adopted the word in their own form, "chayote", and it spread from there into English. The plant is a member of the gourd family, and its fruit is eaten in much of Latin America and the Caribbean. The word was borrowed from Spanish, which had taken it from Nahuatl, so English received it at one remove from the original language.

Synonyms: chayote