vegetable eggn.
/ˈvɛdʒ(ᵻ)təbl ˌɛɡ/, U.S. /ˈvɛdʒtəb(ə)l ˌɛɡ/, /ˈvɛdʒədəb(ə)l ˌɛɡ/ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > [noun]
corna700
kernelc1000
seedOE
grain1377
pippina1382
acinusa1398
acine1597
seedling1675
vegetable egg1675
seedlet1754
pip1773
oilseed1887
1675 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 10 405 Our Author esteeming the Branches to be produced for the generation of the Vegetable Egg, he teaches..that a Blossom or Flower is, as 'twere, the Uterus together with the Egg or fœtus of the Plant.
1772 C. Milne Inst. Bot. ii. 199 If we trace buds, suckers and layers to their origin, we shall find that they have been produced by plants, which have at first owed their formation to a seed or vegetable egg.
1836 H. Duncan Sacred Philos. Seasons 113 The whole races of plants..propagate their species by means of seeds, which in many remarkable particulars, deserve the name of vegetable eggs.
1860 F. A. Paley List Four Hundred Wild Flowering Plants p. xx When however these seeds, or vegetable eggs (as we have ventured to call them) are matured, the plant must make some effort to lay them.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > fruits as vegetables > aubergine
mad-apple1578
rage apple1578
raging apple1578
raging love apple1578
verangene1587
brinjal1611
brown jolly1756
melinzane1775
melongena1785
melongene1793
aubergine1796
vegetable egg1797
egg-fruit1811
Jew's apple1838
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 598/1 Solanum..Melongena, the egg-plant or vegetable egg. This is also cultivated in gardens, particularly in Jamaica.
1855 Ohio Cultivator 1 Oct. 299/2 Vegetables were presented in fair abundance, and most of them of remarkable size. Among these was a vegetable egg, the largest we ever saw, weighing 11 pounds.
1888 M. L. Holbrook Eating for Strength 215 The vegetable egg we think has been undervalued, more on account of its improper preparation than for its demerit.
3. The edible egg-shaped fruit of any of several trees of the tropical genus Pouteria (family Sapotaceae); esp. the mammee sapota, P. sapota. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > tropical exotic fruit > other tropical or exotic fruits
tamarind1539
guava1555
genipat1568
jack1582
genipap1613
custard apple1648
star apple1693
sweet-sop1696
breadfruit1697
sugar-apple1739
sweet-apple1760
guarri1789
ackee1792
marmalade-box1796
five-corner1826
jakkalsbessie1854
Molucca berry1861
bullock's heart1866
guava-apple1866
vegetable egg1866
Jew plum1880
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1018/2 S[apota] mammosa..yields the Marmalade fruit sometimes called the Vegetable Egg.
1903 Pharmaceut. Jrnl. 11 Apr. 552/1 The fruit [of Lucuma mammosum] is somewhat egg-shaped and hence is sometimes called the vegetable egg.
1946 K. P. Morton & J. F. Morton Fifty Trop. Fruits Nassau 25 (caption) The so-called ‘Vegetable Egg’ or ‘Eggfruit’, whose glossy yellow skin seems stuffed with egg yolk, hard boiled and sweetened.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1675