蕃茄

Chinese

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

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

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

Noun

蕃茄(トマト) • (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 (fānqié). Compare the modern Cantonese reading of faan¹ ke⁴.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

蕃(ばん)茄(か) • (banka) 

1. (rare) tomato (fruit)

Usage notes

This term has been superseded in modern Japanese by the English-derived トマト (tomato).