Skip to the word

Added 10 October 2026

mango

/ˈmæŋɡəʊ/ noun

In Latin: aniba First recorded: 1580 Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about mango at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Large evergreen tropical tree cultivated for its large oval fruit.
Large oval tropical fruit having smooth skin, juicy aromatic pulp, and a large hairy seed.

Origin

Borrowed from Portuguese manga, from Malayalam മാങ്ങ (māṅṅa) / Tamil மாங்காய் (māṅkāy), possibly via Malay mangga, ultimately from Proto-South Dravidian *mām-kāy (“unripe mango”), a compound of *mām (“mango tree”) + *kāy (“unripe fruit”). First used for the fruit as early as the 1580s and the tree by the 1670s. The etymology of the -o ending is not certain.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word