potato Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland
    spud; murphy; Irish potato; tater; white potato.
  2. noun annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous
    Solanum tuberosum; white potato; white potato vine.

WordNet

Po*ta"to noun
Etymology
Sp. patata potato, batata sweet potato, from the native American name (probably batata) in Hayti.
Wordforms
plural Potatoes
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) (a) A plant (Solanum tuberosum) of the Nightshade family, and its esculent farinaceous tuber, of which there are numerous varieties used for food. It is native of South America, but a form of the species is found native as far north as New Mexico. (b) The sweet potato (see below).

Webster 1913