'avocado' originates from Spanish, specifically the word 'aguacate', which comes from Nahuatl 'āhuacatl', where 'āhuacatl' meant 'testicle' (referring to the fruit's shape).

'avocado' changed from Nahuatl 'āhuacatl' into Spanish 'aguacate', and entered English in the 17th–18th centuries as 'avocado' (also historically called 'avocado pear' or 'alligator pear').

Initially, the Nahuatl term referred to 'testicle' (a literal sense tied to shape), but over time the word became associated primarily with the fruit itself and its uses in food.