Standard Lemma guide

aubergine

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈəʊ.bə.ʒiːn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈoʊ.bɚ.ʒin/
  • General-American: ō'bər-ʒēn
  • ô'bər-ʒēn
  • ô'bər-d͡ʒēn
  • South-Asia: /ɔbə(r).(d)ʒin/
  • CMU ARPABET: AO1 B ER0 JH IY2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An Asian plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its edible purple, green, or white ovoid fruit; eggplant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The fruit of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A dark purple colour; eggplant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

egg-shaped vegetable having a shiny skin typically dark purple but occasionally white or yellow

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: eggplant, mad apple

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: solanaceous vegetable

5

noun

Meaning 5

hairy upright herb native to southeastern Asia but widely cultivated for its large glossy edible fruit commonly used as a vegetable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: eggplant, brinjal, eggplant bush, garden egg, mad apple, Solanum melongena

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: herb, herbaceous plant

History

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French aubergine, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān, “the aubergine”), from Classical Persian بَادِنْجَان (bādinjān), from بَاتِنْگَان (bātingān), from Sanskrit वातिङ्गण (vātiṅgaṇa, “the plant that cures the wind”), from Dravidian, ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *waẓVtV. Cognate with Malayalam വഴുതനങ്ങ (vaḻutanaṅṅa), Hindi बैंगन (baiṅgan). Doublet of brinjal, malidzano, and melongene.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bengali: বেগুন (begun) — a dark purple colour
  • Chinese Mandarin: 茄紫色 (qiézǐsè) — a dark purple colour
  • Chinese Mandarin: 紅紫色 /红紫色 (hóngzǐsè) — a dark purple colour
  • Dutch: aubergine — a dark purple colour
  • Greek: μελιτζανί (melitzaní) — a dark purple colour
  • Hindi: बैंगनी (baiṅgnī) — a dark purple colour
  • Malay: terung ungu — a dark purple colour
  • Persian: بادنجانی (bâdanjâni) — a dark purple colour
  • Polish: kolor bakłażanowy — a dark purple colour
  • Russian: тёмнофиолетовый (tjómnofioletovyj) — a dark purple colour
  • Russian: баклажа́новый (baklažánovyj) — a dark purple colour
  • Urdu: بینگنی (baiṅganī) — a dark purple colour
  • Zazaki: baincan — a dark purple colour