From what language does the word "mango" come from?
Question #65983. Asked by apple03.
Last updated Aug 31 2016.
pbr-streetgang
Answer has 5 votes
pbr-streetgang
Answer has 5 votes.
mango — this sweetly fragrant, succulent tropical fruit (Mangifera indica) is called mân in Tamil; the Tamil word for 'unripe fruit' is kây, so mân-kây became mangga in Malay and then mango in English via Portuguese. Why do we call the mango after its unripe version? Maybe because of commerce: fruit merchants shipped green mangoes because of their longer shelf life, to ripen later, and the non-Tamil merchants were used to hearing "mân-kây", so that became the basis of their word for them. When Tamilians eat mangoes, they call them mâm-palam, using the word for ripe fruit.
May 20 2006, 9:45 PM
zbeckabee
Answer has 7 votes
Currently Best Answer
zbeckabee Moderator 19 year member
11752 replies
Answer has 7 votes.
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The name "mango" is derived from the Tamil word "mangay" or "man-gay." When the Portuguese traders settled in Western India, they adopted the name as "manga."