Etymology of the Word Avocado

Several years ago while rambling along the potholed roads of Mexico, my compradres and I began a discussion on the etymology of the word avocado. We all thought that it sounded Spanish but knew it wasn’t since the Spanish word for avocado is not avocado.

I’ve been reading a wonderful book lately that my sister gave me. A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer by Michael Preston. Sailing around the world in the late 1600s to early 1700s, Dampier wrote a book that popularized the travel narrative in England. His work was very influential for people like Jonathon Swift in Gulliver’s Travels, and Charles Darwin’s The Origin.

Anyway, while reading the other night, I discovered that he gave the first English account of avocados[1]. They were reported by the Spanish to have aphrodisiac qualities (what didn’t the Spanish report having aphrodisiac qualities?), and the book had this footnote:

The word avocado originates from a Nahuatl Indian (Aztec) word meaning “testicle,” a reference either to its shape or to its aphrodisiac qualities.

There you have it. A little something to make you laugh the next time you have avocados or guacamole (the etymology of the latter is Spanish I believe).