pepino
pepino Lexical Profile
pepino Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The smooth, oval, yellowish edible fruit of a South American nightshade plant (Solanum muricatum), typically streaked with purple and having juicy, sweet flesh with a flavor reminiscent of honeydew melon and cucumber.
"She sliced the ripe pepino and added its sweet, fragrant flesh to the tropical fruit salad."
The unripe or less sweet fruit of the pepino plant (Solanum muricatum) when harvested firm and prepared as a culinary vegetable in salads, stews, or cooked dishes, similar to a cucumber or squash.
"In several Andean regions, slightly underripe pepino is diced and tossed into savory salads just like a crisp garden vegetable."
An evergreen shrubby perennial plant (Solanum muricatum) of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), native to the temperate Andean regions of South America and cultivated for its edible melon-like fruit.
"Because the pepino is sensitive to frost, gardeners in cooler climates often grow the shrub in greenhouses or containers."
Word Nuance & Usage
In English, 'pepino' refers specifically to the sweet South American nightshade fruit (Solanum muricatum), even though in Spanish the word literally means 'cucumber' (making it a common false friend for Spanish speakers).
• Rhymes for pepino
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 19th century from Spanish pepino ('cucumber'), originally applied by Spanish colonists to the Andean fruit due to its flavor and aroma, from Vulgar Latin *pepinus, a diminutive of Latin pepo ('melon' or 'gourd'), from Ancient Greek pepon ('ripe' or 'melon').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.