tomatillo
tomatillo Lexical Profile
tomatillo Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A small, spherical, green or green-purple fruit native to Mexico, enclosed in a papery husk and widely used in Mexican cuisine, particularly as the base for salsa verde.
"She peeled the sticky, papery husks off the tomatillos before roasting them with jalapeños to make a vibrant salsa verde."
The nightshade plant (Physalis philadelphica) that bears the tomatillo fruit.
"We decided to plant a tomatillo in the garden this spring alongside the bell peppers and heirloom tomatoes."
Word Nuance & Usage
Though frequently confused with unripe green tomatoes, tomatillos are distinct fruits with a denser texture, a more tart, citrusy flavor, and a characteristic papery husk.
• Rhymes for tomatillo
Word Origin & Etymology
From Spanish 'tomatillo', meaning 'little tomato', a diminutive of 'tomate', which ultimately derives from the Classical Nahuatl word 'tomatl'.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.