# Why is it called an eggplant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633 "2001-03-03T16:44:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/1 "2001-03-03T16:44:28Z")
Eggplant? Dosen’t look or taste like an egg to me. Who named this vegetable…on what criteria? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/2 "2001-03-03T16:48:44Z")
It’s shaped like an egg. Now, can anyone explain why the Brits call it an _aubergine?_ ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/3 "2001-03-03T16:50:27Z")
The big, purple, breast-shaped eggplants are a relative of an earlier version which is rare these days. This earlier version had ovular, white fruits which resembled eggs. Cite: _Eggplants, Elevators, Etc.: An Uncommon History of Common Things_. Meyers, James. New York: Hart Publishing Company, 1978. p. 110 ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/4 "2001-03-03T18:15:26Z")
**rastahomie** right about the name. As for _aubergine_, from the OED: > [@](#): > > Fr., dim. of auberge, variant of alberge ‘a kind of peach’ (Littré), ad. Sp. alberchigo, alverchiga, ‘an apricocke’ (Minsheu 1623). Which can be confusing because _auberge_ is also French for _inn_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_willard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@don\_willard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_willard)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/5 "2001-03-03T19:07:26Z")
And here I thought aubergine was the French word for eggplant and that it also was the name of the color purple in French, thus they named the fruit that because it is purple! I would rather eat an aubergine if I must than something called an eggplant. I love eggs but eggplant seems to be kind of disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/6 "2001-03-04T01:04:48Z")
Eggplant:1 a : a widely cultivated perennial herb (Solanum melongena) of the nightshade family yielding edible fruit nightshade? whoa. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/7 "2001-03-04T01:37:03Z")
French _aubergine_ came from the Arabic _al-bâdhinjân_. (French had a way of changing al-\* to _au-_; compare _auberge_, inn, with Italian _albergo_.) The Arabic word came from Persian _bâdinjân_, and that came from Sanskrit _vâtingana_. The Sanskrit speakers must have made some folk eytmology with it, to look as though it’s derived from _vâta_, ‘wind’ (one of the humors in Ayurvedic theory). Actually, the word has a Dravidian origin, related to Telugu _vanga_, Malayalam _valutini_, Tamil _vankaNam_. The Italians did some folk etymology on it too; Italian _melanzana_ is also derived from _bâdhinjân_, but it was reconfigured as though it had come from Greek _melanos_, ‘black’. Same with the Latin botanical term for it, _melongena_. _Brinjal_ is one of the few words that exist only in “Indian English.” It came from the Portuguese _beringela_, from the same source as the other words above. I had seen it on labels in Indian groceries, so when I went to India, I thought _brinjal_ was the Hindi name for it. They told me no, _brinjal_ is English! The Hindi word for it is _baingan_ (from Dravidian). ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/8 "2001-03-04T02:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*Eggplant:1 a : a widely cultivated perennial herb (Solanum melongena) of the nightshade family yielding edible fruit > > nightshade? whoa. \*\* The nightshade family also includes potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers and chili peppers. And tobacco, datura, mandrake … the poor petunias must feel quite overwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-an-eggplant/56633/9 "2001-03-04T03:39:25Z")
There’s an excellent restaurant in Memphis,TN, called Aubergine. The chef is named Gene, classically French trained; so he played on his born-given, the Inn concept, and the humble vegetabobble that absorbs every manner of sauce when deciding on the name. He’s as astute with his cuisine as his nomenclature. If yer ever in Memphy, give your stomach the treat.