eggplant

See also: egg-plant, and 🍆

English

An eggplant.

White eggplant fruits, for whose resemblance to chicken eggs the plant is named

Alternative forms

• egg-plant

Etymology

From egg +‎ plant, originally applied only to the white-colored, egg-shaped variety.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛɡ.plænt/, /-plɑːnt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

eggplant (countable and uncountable, plural eggplants)

1. (Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The plant Solanum melongena.
2. (Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The edible fruit of the Solanum melongena: an aubergine.
3. (Canada, US) A dark purple color, like that of the skin of this fruit.

   eggplant:  

4. (US, slang, derogatory, offensive) A black person (used mainly by Italian-Americans).
   • 1993, Quentin Tarantino, True Romance, spoken by Clifford Worley (Dennis Hopper):

     Hey. Yeah. And, and your great-great-great-great grandmother fucked a nigger, ho, ho, yeah, and she had a half-nigger kid… now, if that's a fact, tell me, am I lying? 'Cause you, you're part eggplant.

   • 2004, Wendy Coakley-Thompson, Back to Life:

     "Why am I not surprised?" This was the limit. "You know, I'm black enough for his family to yell eggplant-this and nigger-that at me," she said.

   • 2006, Jerome Charyn, Raised by wolves: the turbulent art and times of Quentin Tarantino:

     What else can he do? But Hopper continues his riff. "Sicilians still carry that nigger gene . . . Your ancestors are niggers. You're part eggplant."

5. (skateboarding, snowboarding) A 180 backside rotated invert in which the front hand is planted on the lip of the halfpipe wall

Synonyms

• (the plant or its fruit): aubergine (UK, Ireland), brinjal (India, Malaysia, Singapore), baingan (India), brown jolly (Caribbean, dated), baigan (Trinidad and Tobago, India), bhaigan (Trinidad and Tobago, India), bangun (India)
• (the fruit): melongene (Caribbean)

Derived terms

• Eggplant mosaic virus
• pea eggplant
• scarlet eggplant
• wild eggplant

 

Translations

plant

• Afrikaans: eiervrug (af)
• Albanian: patëllxhan (sq)
• Arabic: بَاذِنْجَان (ar) (bāḏinjān), بَادِنْجَان (bādinjān), بَاتِنْجَان (bātinjān)

  Egyptian Arabic: بتنجان pl (betengān) (collective)

  Hijazi Arabic: باتِنْجان m (bātinjān), بادِنْجان m (bādinjān)

  Iraqi Arabic: بيتِنْجان m pl

  Moroccan Arabic: دنجال m (danjāl), دنجان m (danjān)

  Sudanese Arabic: أسود (asūd)

• Armenian: բադրիջան (hy) (badriǰan), սմբուկ (hy) (smbuk)

  Middle Armenian: պատինճան (patinčan)

• Assamese: বেঙেনা (beṅena)
• Asturian: berenxena (ast) f
• Basque: alberjinia, berenjena (eu)
• Belarusian: баклажа́н m (baklažán)
• Bengali: বেগুন (bn) (begun)
• Bikol Central: talong (bcl)
• Bulgarian: син дома́т m (sin domát), патладжа́н (bg) m (patladžán)
• Burmese: ခရမ်းပင် (hka.ram:pang)
• Catalan: alberginiera (ca) f
• Cebuano: talong
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 矮瓜 (ai² gwaa¹), 茄子 (ke^4-2 zi²), 茄瓜 (ke^4-2 gwaa¹)

  Hakka: 茄仔 (khiò-é)

  Hokkien: 茄 (zh-min-nan) (kiô)

  Mandarin: 茄子 (zh) (qiézi)

• Crimean Tatar: patılcan
• Czech: lilek vejcoplodý (cs) m, baklažán (cs) m
• Danish: aubergine (da) c
• Deccani: بیگن (baigan)
• Dhivehi: ބަށި (baṣi)
• Dutch: aubergine (nl) m, eierplant m, eiervrucht f
• Esperanto: melongeno
• Estonian: baklažaan (et), pommu
• Faroese: eggplanta f, eggfrukt f
• Fijian: baigani
• Finnish: munakoiso (fi)
• French: aubergine (fr) f
• Fula: huytaare
• Georgian: ბადრიჯანი (badriǯani)
• German: Aubergine (de) f, Eierpflanze f, Eierfrucht (de) f, Melanzani (de) f (Austria)
• Greek: μελιτζάνα (el) f (melitzána)
• Gujarati: રીંગણ (gu) (rī̃gaṇ), વેંગણ (veṅgaṇ)
• Guyanese Creole English: baigan
• Hawaiian: lahopipi
• Hebrew: חָצִיל (he) m (khatsíl)
• Hiligaynon: talong
• Hindi: बैंगन (hi) m (baiṅgan), बतिया (hi) f (batiyā), भण्टा (hi) m (bhaṇṭā)
• Hungarian: padlizsán (hu) c
• Hunsrik: Bërinschela f
• Icelandic: eggaldin n
• Ido: berenjeniero
• Indonesian: terung (id)
• Irish: ubhthoradh m
• Italian: melanzana (it) f
• Japanese: 茄子 (ja) (なす, nasu), ナス (ja) (nasu)
• Kalmyk: чеес (çees)
• Kamta: বাইগন (baigon)
• Kannada: ನೆಲಗುಳ್ಳ (kn) (nelaguḷḷa)
• Kapampangan: balasenas
• Kashmiri: وانٛگُن (ks) (vāṅgun), वाँगुन (vāṅgun)
• Kazakh: баялды (baäldy)
• Kinaray-a: tarong
• Korean: 가지 (ko) (gaji)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بادمجان (badimcan), باینجان (bayincan)

  Northern Kurdish: bacanê reş (ku)

• Kyrgyz: баклажан (ky) (baklajan)
• Lak: бадиржан (badiržan)
• Lao: ເຂືອຫຳມ້າ (khư̄a ham mā)
• Latin: melongena f
• Latvian: baklažāns m
• Lezgi: бадамжан (badamžan)
• Lithuanian: baklažanas m
• Lü: ᦖᦱᧅᦵᦃᦲ (ṁaakẋoe)
• Macedonian: патлиџан (mk) m (patlidžan)
• Malay: terung
• Malayalam: വഴുതന (ml) (vaḻutana)
• Maltese: brunġiela f
• Manchu: ᡥᠠᠰᡳ (hasi)
• Mansaka: tarom
• Maori: otahua
• Marathi: वांगी (mr) (vāṅgī)
• Nahuatl: tototexochitl, camiltic xocotl
• Navajo: ayęęzhii yiltʼąąʼí
• Nepali: बैजनी (ne) (baijanī), भण्टा (ne) (bhaṇṭā)
• Norman: aubèrginne f
• Norwegian: aubergine c, eggplante, eggplanta
• Odia: ବାଇଗଣ (or) (bāigaṇa)
• Persian: بادنجان (fa) (bâdenjân), بادنگان (bâdengân), باتنگان (bâtengân)
• Polish: bakłażan (pl) m, oberżyna (pl) f
• Portuguese: berinjela (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਬਤਾਊਂ (pa) (batāū̃), ਬੈਂਗਣ (pa) m (baiṅgaṇ)
• Romanian: vânătă (ro) f
• Russian: баклажа́н (ru) m (baklažán)
• Sanskrit: वृन्ताक (sa) m (vṛntāka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: патлиџан m, баланцана f, меланцана f

  Roman: patlidžan (sh) m, balancana (sh) f, melancana (sh) f

• Sicilian: milinciana (scn) f, mulanciana f
• Sindhi: واڱَڻُ m (vāṅgṇu)
• Slovak: baklažán m, ľuľok m
• Slovene: jajčevec (sl) m, malancan m, malancana f
• Spanish: berenjena (es) f
• Swahili: mbilingani
• Swedish: aubergine (sv) c, äggplanta (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠛꠣꠁꠋꠉꠘ (baiṅgon)
• Tagalog: talong (tl)
• Tajik: боқлаҷон (tg) (boqlajon), бодинҷон (tg) (bodinjon)
• Tamil: கத்தரி (ta) (kattari), கத்திரி (ta) (kattiri)
• Tatar: бадымҗан (badımcan)
• Tausug: talum
• Telugu: వంగ (te) (vaṅga), వంకాయ (te) (vaṅkāya)
• Thai: มะเขือ (th) (má-kʉ̌ʉa)
• Tigrinya: መለንዛና (mälänzana)
• Tulu: ಗುಳ್ಳ (guḷḷa)
• Turkish: patlıcan (tr)
• Turkmen: badamjan (tk)
• Ukrainian: баклажа́н (uk) m (baklažán)
• Urdu: بینگن m (baiṅgan), بیگن (baigan), بینجن (benjan)
• Uzbek: baklajan (uz), pontijon (uz)
• Venetan: meƚansana (vec) f
• Vietnamese: cà (vi)
• Waray-Waray: tarong
• Welsh: planhigyn ŵy m
• Yiddish: פּאַטלעזשאַן m (patlezhan)
• Zazaki: baincan
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

edible fruit

• Abaza: баклажа́н (baklažán)
• Abkhaz: аҟандыл (aqʼandəl), абаклаџьан (abakʼladžan)
• Afrikaans: eiervrug (af)
• Aklanon: taeong
• Albanian: patëllxhan (sq)
• Arabic: بَاذِنْجَان (ar) m (bāḏinjān)

  Egyptian Arabic: بتنجانة f (betengāna) (informal), بتنجان m pl (betengān) (collective), بدنجان m pl (bedengān) (rare), برنجان m pl (berengān) (Nile Delta)

  Iraqi Arabic: بيتِنْجان m pl

  Moroccan Arabic: دنجال m (danjāl), دنجان m (danjān)

• Aragonese: alberxena f
• Armenian: բադրիջան (hy) (badriǰan), սմբուկ (hy) (smbuk)

  Middle Armenian: պատինճան (patinčan)

• Aromanian: vinitâ f
• Assamese: বেঙেনা (beṅena)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܐܬܠܓܢ
• Asturian: berenxena (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: badımcan (az)

  Cyrillic: бадымҹан

• Basque: alberjinia, berenjena (eu)
• Belarusian: баклажа́н m (baklažán)
• Bengali: বেগুন (bn) (begun)
• Bhojpuri: बैगन (baigan)
• Bikol Central: talong (bcl)
• Bislama: obesin
• Breton: berjinezenn f
• Bulgarian: патладжа́н (bg) m (patladžán)
• Burmese: ခရမ်း (my) (hka.ram:), ခရမ်းသီး (hka.ram:si:)
• Catalan: albergínia (ca) f
• Cebuano: talong
• Central Dusun: bintorung
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 茄子 (ke^4-2 zi²), 矮瓜 (ai² gwaa¹), 茄瓜 (ke^4-2 gwaa¹)

  Hakka: 吊菜仔 (tiau-chhoi-é), 茄仔 (khiò-é)

  Hokkien: 紅菜／红菜 (âng-chhài), 茄 (zh-min-nan) (kiô), 紅茄／红茄 (âng-kiô), 紅皮菜／红皮菜 (âng-phôe-chhài, âng-phê-chhài)

  Mandarin: 茄子 (zh) (qiézi), 酪酥 (zh) (làosū, luòsū)

• Corsican: melzana f
• Czech: baklažán (cs) m, patližán m (colloquial), patlažán m (colloquial), lilek (cs) m
• Danish: aubergine (da) c
• Dhivehi: ބަށި (baṣi)
• Dutch: aubergine (nl) f, eiervrucht
• Dzongkha: དོ་ལོམ (do lom), དོ་ལོམ་ཤིང (do lom shing)
• Emilian: melanzena f (Bolognese)
• Esperanto: melongeno
• Estonian: baklažaan (et), pommu
• Faroese: eggfrukt f
• Finnish: munakoiso (fi)
• French: aubergine (fr) f
• Friulian: melanzane f
• Galician: berenxena (gl) f
• Georgian: ბადრიჯანი (badriǯani)
• German: Aubergine (de) f, Eierfrucht (de) f, (Austrian) Melanzani (de)
• Greek: μελιτζάνα (el) f (melitzána)
• Gujarati: રીંગણ (gu) (rī̃gaṇ), વેંગણ (veṅgaṇ)
• Hebrew: חָצִיל (he) m (khatsíl)
• Hindi: बैंगन (hi) m (baiṅgan), बतिया (hi) f (batiyā), भण्टा (hi) m (bhaṇṭā)
• Hungarian: padlizsán (hu)
• Icelandic: eggaldin n
• Ido: berenjeno (io)
• Interlingua: alberengina
• Irish: ubhthoradh m
• Italian: melanzana (it) f
• Japanese: 茄子 (ja) (なす, nasu), ナス (ja) (nasu), なすび (ja) (nasubi) (esp western Japan)
• Kalmyk: чеес (çees)
• Kamta: বাইগন (baigon)
• Kannada: ಬದನೆ (kn) (badane), ಬಿಳಿಬದನೆ (kn) (biḷibadane), ನೆಲಗುಳ್ಳ (kn) (nelaguḷḷa), ಗುಂಡು ಬದನೆಗಿಡ (kn) (guṇḍu badanegiḍa)
• Kapampangan: balasenas
• Kashmiri: وانٛگُن (ks) (vāṅgun), वाँगुन (vāṅgun)
• Khmer: ក្រាមរមាស (kraamrɔɔmiəh), ខ្មួរ (km) (khmuə), ត្រប់ (km) (trɑp)
• Korean: 가지 (ko) (gaji)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bacanreş (ku)

• Kyrgyz: баклажан (ky) (baklajan)
• Ladin: melanzana f
• Ladino: berendjena f
• Lak: бадиржан (badiržan)
• Lao: ເຂືອຫຳມ້າ (khư̄a ham mā)
• Latin: melongena f
• Latvian: baklažāns m
• Ligurian: meizann-a f, (Monégasque) merenzana f
• Limburgish: oberzjien (li) f
• Lithuanian: baklažanas m
• Lombard:

  Eastern: maresà m, maregià m

  Western: meresgian (lmo) m, maresgian m

• Lower Sorbian: aubergina f, oberžina f
• Lü: ᦖᦱᧅᦵᦃᦲ (ṁaakẋoe)
• Luxembourgish: Aubergine (lb) f
• Macedonian: патлиџан (mk) m (patlidžan)
• Malagasy: baranjely (mg)
• Malay: pokok terung ungu
• Malayalam: വഴുതന (ml) (vaḻutana), വഴുതനങ്ങ (ml) (vaḻutanaṅṅa)
• Maltese: brunġiel
• Manx: auberjeen
• Maori: otahua
• Marathi: वांगे (mr) (vāṅge)
• Mazanderani: وینگوم (vingum)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хаш (mn) (xaš), чэс (mn) (čes), баклажан (baklažan)

• Navajo: ayęęzhii yiltʼąąʼí
• Neapolitan: mulignana f
• Nepali: बैजनी (ne) (baijanī), भण्टा (ne) (bhaṇṭā)
• Norman: aubèrginne f
• Norwegian: aubergine c, eggfrukt
• Occitan: aubergina (oc) f, merinjana (oc) f
• Odia: ବାଇଗଣ (or) (bāigaṇa)
• Pannonian Rusyn: белава парадича f (belava paradiča)
• Pashto: بادنجان (ps) m (bādanǰān), بانجان m (bānǰān), باټينګن m (bāṭingᶕn), باټينګړ m (bāṭingᶕṛ)
• Persian: بادنجان (fa) (bâdenjân), بادنگان (bâdengân), باتنگان (bâtengân)
• Picard: oubàrjine
• Piedmontese: marzana f
• Polish: bakłażan (pl) m, oberżyna (pl) f
• Portuguese: beringela (pt) f, berinjela (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਬਤਾਊਂ (pa) (batāū̃), ਬੈਂਗਣ (pa) m (baiṅgaṇ)
• Romanian: vânătă (ro) f
• Romansch: oberschina f
• Russian: баклажа́н (ru) m (baklažán), си́ненький (ru) m (sínenʹkij) (colloquial), бадриджа́н m (badridžán), бубриджа́н m (bubridžán) (rare)
• Sanskrit: भण्टाकी (sa) (bhaṇṭākī), सन्धान (sa) m (sandhāna)
• Sardinian: melinzana f, pedringianu m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: патлиџан m

  Roman: patlidžan (sh) m

• Sicilian: milinciana (scn) f
• Slovak: ľuľok m, baklažán m
• Slovene: jajčevec (sl) m, melancan m
• Spanish: berenjena (es) f
• Swahili: bilingani
• Swedish: aubergine (sv) c, äggplanta (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠛꠣꠁꠋꠉꠘ (baiṅgon)
• Tagalog: talong (tl)
• Tajik: боқлаҷон (tg) (boqlajon), бодинҷон (tg) (bodinjon)
• Tamil: கத்தரிக்காய் (ta) (kattarikkāy), கத்திரிக்காய் (ta) (kattirikkāy)
• Tatar: баклаҗан (baqlacan), бадымҗан (badımcan)
• Telugu: వంగ (te) (vaṅga), వంకాయ (te) (vaṅkāya)
• Thai: มะเขือ (th) (má-kʉ̌ʉa)
• Tibetan: རྡོ་ལུ་མ། (rdo lu ma)
• Tigrinya: መለንዛና (mälänzana)
• Tulu: ಗುಳ್ಳ (guḷḷa)
• Turkish: patlıcan (tr)
• Turkmen: badamjan (tk)
• Ukrainian: баклажа́н (uk) m (baklažán)
• Urdu: بینگن m (baiṅgan), بتیا f (batiyā), بھنٹا m (bhaṇṭā), بیگن m (baigan) (Hyderabad), بینجن (benjan)
• Uyghur: پىدىگەن (pidigen), پېتىنگا (pëtin'ga), پەتىنگان (petin'gan), چەيزە (cheyze)
• Uzbek: baqlajon (uz)
• Venetan: meƚansana (vec) f
• Vietnamese: cà tím
• Volapük: berjen (vo)
• Welsh: wylys
• West Frisian: auberzjine
• Yiddish: פּאַטלעזשאַן m (patlezhan)
• Zazaki: baincan
• Zhuang: lwggwz

color

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: بتنجانى m (betengāni)

• Korean: 가지색 (gajisaek)
• Polish: bakłażanowy (pl)

See also

• 🍆

Further reading

• eggplant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “eggplant n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present