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aubergine

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au⋅ber⋅gine

[oh-ber-zheen, -jeen, oh-ber-; oh-ber-zheen, -jeen, oh-ber-]
–noun
1. Chiefly British. eggplant.
2. a dark purplish color.

Origin:
1785–95; < F < Catalan albargínia < Ar al the + bādhinjān eggplant < Pers bādingān perh. < Indo-Aryan; cf. Skt vātiṅgaṇaḥ
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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au·ber·gine   (ō'běr-zhēn', ō'bər-jēn)   
n.  See eggplant.

[French, from Catalan albergina, from Arabic al-bāḏinjān, the eggplant, from Persian bādenjān, bādengān.]
egg·plant   (ěg'plānt')   
n.  
    1. An Indian plant (Solanum melongena var. esculenta) cultivated for its large edible, ovoid, glossy, usually purple-skinned fruit.

    2. The fruit of this plant. Also called aubergine, melongene.

  1. A blackish purple.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

aubergine 
1794, from Fr., "fruit of the eggplant" (Solanum esculentum), dim. of auberge "a kind of peach," from Sp. alberchigo "apricot." But Klein derives the Fr. from Catalan alberginera, from Arabic al-badinjan "the eggplant," from Pers. badin-gan, from Skt. vatin-ganah. As a color like that of the eggplant fruit, it is attested from 1895.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

aubergine jargon
A secret term used to refer to computers in the presence of computerphobic third parties.
(1995-01-24)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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