potato
potato
Pronunciation
/pəˈteɪtoʊ/.
First syllable (po-):
/p/: Voiceless bilabial plosive
/ə/: Schwa (mid-central vowel)
Second syllable (-ta-):
/t/: Voiceless alveolar plosive
/eɪ/: Diphthong (as in "face")
Third syllable (-to):
/t/: Voiceless alveolar plosive
/oʊ/: Diphthong (as in "goat")
Word Form Variations
Singular Noun: potato (e.g., "I ate one potato.")
Plural Noun: potatoes (e.g., "We harvested many potatoes.")
While "potato" itself doesn't have common verb or adjective forms directly derived from it, it appears in various compound nouns and idiomatic expressions:
Compound Nouns/Phrases:
Potato chip: (also "crisp" in British English)
Potato salad:
Sweet potato: (a different root vegetable, but often associated)
Baked potato:
Mashed potatoes:
New potato: (a potato harvested early)
Seed potato: (a tuber used for planting)
Potato famine:
Potato bug / Potato beetle:
Idiomatic Expressions (where "potato" contributes to a specific meaning):
Hot potato: (a difficult or controversial issue that no one wants to deal with)
Couch potato: (a lazy person who spends a lot of time watching TV)
Small potatoes: (something insignificant or unimportant)
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Part of Speech: Noun
Definition: A starchy, edible tuber grown underground on a plant ( Solanum tuberosum) belonging to the nightshade family, widely cultivated as a staple food around the world.
Synonyms: spud (informal), tater (informal, regional), earth apple (archaic/poetic)
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms for a specific food item, but one could consider categories of food as conceptual opposites, e.g., 'meat,' 'grain,' 'fruit' if contrasting broader food types.)
Definition: (Often in plural) A dish or serving prepared from this tuber, typically as a side dish or main component of a meal.
Examples: "Would you like some roasted potatoes with your chicken?" or "The chef made a delicious potato gratin."
Synonyms: (Often expressed with qualifiers: baked potato, mashed potatoes, french fries, chips (British English), crisps (British English), hash browns, etc.)
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms; depends on the specific preparation, but similar to the first definition, other food dishes would be conceptual opposites.)
Definition: (Informal, as part of an idiom like "couch potato") A person characterized by the behavior or quality described by the accompanying word.
Example: "My brother is a real couch potato on weekends."
Synonyms: (Depends on the idiom: for "couch potato" - slacker, loafer, idler, layabout)
Antonyms: (Depends on the idiom: for "couch potato" - go-getter, busy bee, active person)
Examples of Use
Books:
"The first thing I remember about the kitchen is the smell of boiling potatoes and cabbage, and the sound of my mother's voice, humming a hymn." (From Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, July 1996)
"She peeled a potato with practiced ease, the skin spiraling off in one long ribbon." (From The Martian by Andy Weir, February 2014)
Newspapers:
"Farmers in Idaho are reporting a bumper crop of potatoes this year, promising lower prices for consumers." (Example from a hypothetical article in The Idaho Statesman)
"Food banks are calling for donations of non-perishable goods, with canned potatoes being a particularly useful item." (Example from a hypothetical article in The Guardian)
Online Publications:
"How to store potatoes so they last longer: A comprehensive guide." (From Serious Eats)
"The debate over whether to include potatoes on a low-carb diet continues to spark discussion among nutritionists." (From Healthline)
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Television (Cooking Show): "And for our side dish tonight, we're making a delicious garlic mashed potato." (Heard on America's Test Kitchen, PBS)
Film (Dialogue): "You brought me a bag of potatoes? I asked for a bag of chips!" (Heard in a family comedy film, e.g., Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2)
Music (Song Lyric): "Just like a hot potato, you get tossed around." (From the song "Hot Potato" by The Wiggles)
Video Games (Item Description): "A common but versatile root vegetable, the potato can be cooked in many ways to restore health." (Description of an item in a role-playing game, e.g., Minecraft)
Social Media (User Post): "Nothing beats a good baked potato on a cold night! #comfortfood" (From a user's post on X (formerly Twitter)
General Public Discourse:
"I'm feeling like a real couch potato today; I just want to relax and watch movies." (Common conversational usage)
"That new policy is a real hot potato for the government; no one wants to take responsibility for it." (Common conversational usage referring to a difficult issue)
10 Quotes Using Potato
"There are twenty ways of cooking a potato, and three hundred and sixty-five ways of cooking an egg, yet the British cook up to the present moment knows only three methods of sending up either one or the other." (Oscar Wilde)
"My idea of heaven is a great big baked potato and someone to share it with." (Oprah Winfrey, 1998)
"What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow." (A. A. Milne)
"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes." (Douglas Adams)
"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes." (Alan Watts)
"Reading one book is like eating one potato chip." (Diane Duane, 2003)
"They who derive their worth from their ancestors resemble potatoes, the most valuable part of which is underground." (Francis Bacon)
"Look at that moon. Potato weather for sure." (Thornton Wilder, Our Town)
"Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism, are all very good words for the lips." (Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, 1857)
"Potayto, potahto." (From the song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, 1937)
Etymology
The word "potato" has a fascinating journey through different languages and cultures!
It originally comes from the Taíno word "batata," which referred to a sweet potato (a different plant from the common white potato we usually think of today). The Taíno people were indigenous to the Caribbean, and Europeans, particularly the Spanish, encountered them and their language when they arrived in the Americas.
The Spanish adopted the word as "patata." When the "white" or "Irish" potato (the one we commonly eat now, Solanum tuberosum) was discovered and brought back to Europe from the Andes in South America, it was sometimes confused with the sweet potato or given the same name.
The word then made its way into English from Spanish. The earliest known use of "potato" in English, referring to the sweet potato, was around 1565. Later, as the common white potato became more widespread, the word "potato" came to refer to that specific tuber, distinguishing it from the sweet potato, which then needed the "sweet" added to its name.
So, in easy terms: "potato" started as a Caribbean word for sweet potato, was picked up by the Spanish, and then came to English, where it eventually shifted its main meaning to the more common white potato we know today.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Potato
Here's a list of phrases and idioms using "potato":
Hot potato: A controversial or difficult issue that no one wants to deal with.
Couch potato: A very lazy person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, especially watching television.
Small potatoes: Something insignificant or unimportant.
Meat and potatoes: The most important or fundamental parts of something; basic, essential elements.
The whole nine yards and a bag of potatoes: Everything imaginable; completely. (Slightly less common than "the whole nine yards" alone).
To drop like a hot potato: To quickly abandon something or someone, especially due to difficulty or controversy.
Couch potato syndrome: A state of extreme inactivity and excessive television watching.
Potato famine: A severe shortage of potatoes, historically referring to the Irish Potato Famine.
Potato chips: Thin slices of potato fried or baked until crisp and eaten as a snack.
Spud gun: (Using a synonym) A toy gun that shoots pieces of potato.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of potato from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
