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)

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

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)