What does potato mean?
A potato is the starchy tuber of a cultivated plant and one of the world's most widely eaten vegetables. In everyday cooking, the word refers to the tuber rather than the leafy plant, as in phrases such as "mashed potatoes" and "roast potatoes." Potatoes may be baked, boiled, fried, or roasted, and they commonly appear in soups, stews, salads, and snacks. The word also has a long-established informal use for a dull, slow, or lethargic person, although this sense is much less common than the culinary one. Originating in South America, potatoes became a major staple food in Europe after their introduction there in the sixteenth century. Today they are cultivated across most of the world and are especially associated with hearty, everyday dishes. In British and American English, the standard plural is "potatoes," while "spud" remains a familiar informal alternative.
nounA starchy edible tuber that grows underground and is the root vegetable of the potato plant. The word can also refer to the plant itself.
- The edible starchy tuber of the potato plant.
- The potato plant itself, a cultivated herbaceous plant that grows underground tubers.
- An informal term for a dull or slow person.
"She baked a potato with rosemary and served it with a fresh green salad."
"The potatoes need another twenty minutes in the oven."
"Potatoes became a staple food in many parts of Europe during the eighteenth century."
"I felt like a potato for most of the afternoon."
Use the plural when referring to multiple tubers or to the vegetable in general. In culinary contexts, "potatoes" is normally plural even when the quantity is not being counted precisely.
"The recipe calls for three pounds of potatoes."
Potatoes were cultivated in the Andes thousands of years before Christopher Columbus reached the Americas, making one of today's most familiar vegetables a late arrival in European cooking.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does potato come from?
The English word entered use in the sixteenth century through Spanish "patata." The ultimate origin of Spanish "patata" is commonly connected to the Quechua word "papa," meaning potato, although the precise route by which the form developed is not entirely straightforward. The word became established in European languages as cultivation of the crop spread from the Americas.
How potato is actually used
The formal plural is "potatoes." The informal singular "potato" can refer to a dull, lethargic, or slow person, especially in American and British informal speech. When the vegetable is discussed as food, "potatoes" is normally plural in standard usage.
Easily confused with potato
A sweet potato is a different root vegetable with a sweeter flavor and is not botanically related to the potato.