Tomatoes Are Fruit, and So Are Cucumbers and Peppers
Fruit is the sweet product of a plant. Botany defines it differently from the kitchen, which is why a tomato qualifies.
Fruit is the sweet edible product of a plant, and in botany the seed-bearing structure formed from a flower's ovary. By that definition tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins and avocados are all fruit, while rhubarb — a stalk — is not. In 1893 the United States Supreme Court ruled tomatoes were vegetables anyway, for tariff purposes, on the grounds that people eat them with dinner rather than dessert. The word also means result, as in *the fruits of your labour*.
- A plant's edible product. *Fresh fruit.*
- A seed-bearing structure. *A botanical fruit.*
- A result. *The fruits of research.*
- Fruitful — productive. *A fruitful meeting.*
- Fruition — the point of achievement. *Came to fruition.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | fruit | Ripe fruit. |
| Plural | fruits | The fruits of labour. |
| Adjective | fruitful | Fruitful talks. |
| Adjective | fruitless | A fruitless search. |
| Latin | fructus | Enjoyment, produce. |
- Eat more fruit and vegetables.Culinary.
- A tomato is botanically a fruit.Botany.
- The project came to fruition.Result.
Botanical fruits sold as vegetables
- Tomato, cucumber, courgette, pumpkin
- Pepper, aubergine, okra
- Avocado, olive — both single-seeded fruits
- Peas and beans — pods are fruits too
- Rhubarb — a stalk, so not a fruit despite the dessert
Old French *fruit*, from Latin *fructus*, enjoyment or produce, from *frui*, to enjoy. The same root gives *fruition* and *usufruct*.
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Botanically a fruit. In cooking, and in American tariff law since 1893, it is treated as a vegetable.
Is rhubarb a fruit?
No. The edible part is a leaf stalk, so it is a vegetable despite being cooked as a dessert.