蕃茄

蕃茄

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 蕃茄 – see 番茄 (“tomato; chilli pepper”). (This term, 蕃茄, is a variant form of 番茄.)

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
蕃	茄
Jinmeiyō	Jinmeiyō
Irregular

Borrowed from English tomato. The kanji are ateji (当て字), from the Chinese word for tomato.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
  • (Tokyo) と​まと [tóꜜmàtò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [to̞ma̠to̞]

Noun

蕃茄 (katakana トマト, rōmaji tomato)

1. (rare) Alternative spelling of トマト: tomato (fruit)

Usage notes

The kanji spelling for tomato is exceedingly rare.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
蕃	茄
ばん Jinmeiyō	か Jinmeiyō
kan’yōon

Given the history of when tomatoes were introduced to the far east, probably from late-middle or early-modern Cantonese 蕃茄. Compare the modern Cantonese reading of faan¹ ke⁴.

Pronunciation

• Kan’yōyomi
  • (Tokyo) ば​んか [báꜜǹkà] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [bã̠ŋka̠]

Noun

蕃茄 (hiragana ばんか, rōmaji banka)

1. (rare) tomato (fruit)

Usage notes

This term has been superseded in modern Japanese by the English-derived トマト (tomato).

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN