What is "love apple"

Tomato \To*ma"to\, n.; pl. Tomatoes. [Sp. or Pg. tomate, of American Indian origin; cf. Mexican tomail.] (Bot.) The fruit of a plant of the Nightshade family ( Lycopersicum esculentun); also, the plant itself. The fruit, which is called also love apple, is usually of a rounded, flattened form, but often irregular in shape. It is of a bright red or yellow color, and is eaten either cooked or uncooked.

Tomato gall (Zo["o]l.), a large gall consisting of a mass of irregular swellings on the stems and leaves of grapevines. They are yellowish green, somewhat tinged with red, and produced by the larva of a small two-winged fly ( Lasioptera vitis).

Tomato sphinx (Zo["o]l.), the adult or imago of the tomato worm. It closely resembles the tobacco hawk moth. Called also tomato hawk moth. See Illust. of Hawk moth.

Tomato worm (Zo["o]l.), the larva of a large hawk moth ( Manduca quinquemaculata, Protoparce quinquemaculata, Sphinx quinquemaculata, or Macrosila quinquemaculata) which feeds upon the leaves of the tomato and potato plants, often doing considerable damage. Called also tomato hornworm and potato worm, and in the Southern U. S. tobacco fly.

"tomato," 1570s, corresponding to French pomme d'amour, German liebesapfel, but the reason for the term remains obscure. One guess is that it is a corruption of Italian pomo de'Mori or Spanish pome dei Moro, literally "Moorish apple."

n. (context informal English) A tomato.

n. native to South America; widely cultivated in many varieties [syn: tomato, tomato plant, Lycopersicon esculentum]

The term love apple may refer to:

• The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
• The wax apple (Syzygium samarangense)