Editing Potato (section)

== Etymology ==

The English word "potato" comes from Spanish {{lang|es|patata}}, in turn from [[Taíno language|Taíno]] ''{{lang|tnq|batata}}'', which means "[[sweet potato]]", not the plant now known as simply "potato".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herrero |first=María Antonieta Andión |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wwI4nMg5r70C&pg=PA78 |title=Los indigenismos en la Historia de las Indias de Bartolomé de las Casas |date=2004 |publisher=Editorial CSIC - [[CSIC Press]] |isbn=978-84-00-08266-6 |page=78 |language=es |access-date=2 February 2021 |archive-date=24 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324172324/https://books.google.com/books?id=wwI4nMg5r70C&pg=PA78#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

The name "spud" for a potato is from the 15th century ''spudde'', a short and stout knife or dagger, probably related to Danish ''spyd'', "spear". Through [[semantic change]], the general sense of ''short and thick'' was transferred to the tuber from around 1840.<ref>{{cite web |title=spud (n.) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/spud |access-date=13 May 2018 |work=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> 

At least seven languages—Afrikaans, Dutch, Low Saxon, French, (West) Frisian, Hebrew, Persian<ref>{{Cite web |title=jordäpple {{!}} SAOB {{!}} svenska.se |url=https://svenska.se/saob/?sok=jord%C3%A4pple#U_J1_193122 |access-date=28 June 2023 |language=sv-SE}}</ref> and some variants of German—use a term for "potato" that means "earth apple" or "ground apple",<ref>{{cite web |last=Hooshmand |first=Dana |title="Earth Apple": The 5 Languages that Use This for "Potato" |url=https://discoverdiscomfort.com/earth-apple-potato-languages/ |website=discoverdiscomfort.com |access-date=27 August 2021 |date=12 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Laws |first1=Christopher |title=A Cultural History of the Potato as Earth Apple |url=https://culturedarm.com/cultural-history-potato-earth-apple/ |website=Culturedarm |access-date=27 August 2021 |date=9 February 2015}}</ref> from an earlier sense of both [[Pome#Etymology|pome]] and [[Apple#Etymology|apple]], referring in general to a (''apple-shaped'') fruit or vegetable.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED33955 | title =Middle English Compendium | date = 11 December 1998 | publisher =Michigan University | access-date = 7 March 2025 | archive-date = | archive-url = | url-status = dead }}</ref>