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The word's dual pronunciations were immortalized in Ira and George Gershwin's 1937 song " Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" ("You like / p ə ˈ t eɪ t oʊ/ and I like / p ə ˈ t ɑː t oʊ/ / You like / t ə ˈ m eɪ t oʊ/ and I like / t ə ˈ m ɑː t oʊ/") and have become a symbol for nitpicking pronunciation disputes. The usual pronunciations of tomato are / t ə ˈ m eɪ t oʊ/ (usual in American English) and / t ə ˈ m ɑː t oʊ/ (usual in British English). The scientific species name lycopersicum (from the 1753 book, Species Plantarum) is of Greek origin ( λύκοπερσικων lykopersikon), meaning 'wolf peach'. When Aztecs started to cultivate the fruit to be larger, sweeter and red, they called the new variety xitomatl (or jitomates) ( pronounced ), ('plump with navel' or 'fat water with navel').
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Tomato plants typically grow to 1–3 meters (3–10 ft) in height. Numerous varieties of the tomato plant are widely grown in temperate climates across the world, with greenhouses allowing for the production of tomatoes throughout all seasons of the year. While tomatoes are fruits- botanically classified as berries-they are commonly used as a vegetable ingredient or side dish. The tomato is consumed in diverse ways, raw or cooked, in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks.
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Tomatoes are a significant source of umami flavor. From there, the tomato was introduced to other parts of the European-colonized world during the 16th century. The Aztecs used tomatoes in their cooking at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and after the Spanish encountered the tomato for the first time after their contact with the Aztecs, they brought the plant to Europe. Its domestication and use as a cultivated food may have originated with the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The Nahuatl word tomatl gave rise to the Spanish word tomate, from which the English word tomato derived. The species originated in western South America and Central America. The tomato is the edible berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as a tomato plant.