Zucchini Definition & Meaning

American

British

Usage

Etymology

Examples

zucchini American [zoo-kee-nee] / zuˈki ni /

noun

plural

zucchini, zucchinis

1. a variety of summer squash that is shaped like a cucumber and that has a smooth, dark-green skin.

2. the plant bearing this fruit.

zucchini British / tsuːˈkiːnɪ, zuː- /

noun

1. Also called (esp in Britain): courgette. a small variety of vegetable marrow, cooked and eaten as a vegetable

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

This vegetable (actually an immature fruit), borrowed from Italy along with its name, has, in its native Italian language, both a feminine form ( zucchina, with the plural zucchine ) and a masculine form ( zucchino, with the plural zucchini ). It is the latter plural that has made it into English. And as with other Italian foods that enrich our vocabulary along with our diets, we have imported a plural form—only to treat it as a singular noun. Spaghetti, ravioli, tortellini, and fettuccini grace not only our dinner tables but our dictionaries, which show that English speakers normally treat these terms as mass (that is, uncountable) nouns rather than as plurals. We say, “This spaghetti is delicious” or “I'd like some fettuccini,” since we are not referring to individual pieces but to a cooked or cookable dish of pasta. Jokingly, we occasionally acknowledge Italian grammar, as by claiming to pick up one thin “spaghetto” or a puffy “raviolo.” Zucchini, however, is different. Because of the vegetable's size, it is a count noun when whole; you can bring home six zucchini or zucchinis from the supermarket. But when it is sliced, cooked, and served, you once again have a dish of food that is talked about as a mass noun. And in that form, some zucchini is absolutely delicious.

Etymology

Origin of zucchini

1925–30, < Italian, plural of zucchino, equivalent to zucc ( a ) gourd ( zucchetto ) + -ino diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There’s no reason carrots, squash, or zucchini can’t pull similar double duty.

From Salon

Dinner is hamburgers, French fries, red and green peppers, and rice with zucchini bits.

From Literature

More recently, Lake, who grows vegetables such as asparagus, tomatoes and zucchini, as well as pastured meat, has been using software and an app from a company called Tend.

From BBC

Pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and other members of the gourd family have a surprising trait: they can take up pollutants from the soil and store them in their edible parts.

From Science Daily

But I’ve also tried ones stuffed with spinach, onions and mushrooms or zucchini, red peppers, olives and goat cheese — two recipes courtesy of Reddit.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.