How to Say "Avocado" in Chinese

牛油果

niúyóuguǒ

The English word avocado is translated into Chinese using 牛油果 (niúyóuguǒ). Wiktionary also lists 鱷梨 / 鳄梨 (èlí) and 酪梨 (làolí, luòlí).

Meaning: fruit (noun)

Ways to say it

All terms in this entry refer to the fruit known as the avocado.

The term 牛油果 literally means 'butter fruit'.

牛油果 is the most common term used in Mainland China, whereas 酪梨 is the standard term used in Taiwan. The form 鳄梨 is also used to refer to the fruit.

牛油果 is used primarily in Mainland China, and 酪梨 is the standard term used in Taiwan.

niúyóuguǒ

The term 鳄梨 is a direct translation of the English phrase 'alligator pear' because the bumpy skin of the fruit resembles the hide of a reptile.
The word 牛油果 uses 牛油 for 'butter', which literally translates to 'cow oil', reflecting how Chinese describes fats and oils.
The character 果 in all three versions of the word simply means 'fruit', making the Chinese names descriptive of the object's nature rather than a phonetic transliteration of 'avocado'.

我喜歡吃加酪梨的素食漢堡。
I enjoy a veggie burger with avocado.
This sentence shows how to use 酪梨 in the context of a veggie burger.
Tatoeba #13543140 by LeviHighway, translation #12106591 by Amastan
我喜欢吃牛油果三明治。
I like to eat avocado sandwiches.
鳄梨含有丰富的健康脂肪。
Avocado contains abundant healthy fats.
這個牛油果熟了嗎？
Zhège niúyóuguǒ shú le ma?
Is this avocado ripe?
我早餐喜歡吃牛油果吐司。
Wǒ zǎocān xǐhuān chī niúyóuguǒ tǔsī.
I like eating avocado toast for breakfast.

晓雯 and 俊杰 are grocery shopping together.

晓雯 Xiaowen

俊杰，你看這個牛油果很便宜。
Jùnjié, nǐ kàn zhège niúyóuguǒ hěn piányi.
Junjie, look, this avocado is very cheap.
俊杰 Junjie

好啊，那我們買兩個吧。
Hǎo a, wǒmen mǎi liǎng ge ba.
Okay, let's buy two.
晓雯 Xiaowen

我們要挑比較軟的。
Wǒmen yào tiāo bǐjiào ruǎn de.
We should pick the softer ones.
俊杰 Junjie

沒問題，我來挑。
Méi wèntí, wǒ lái tiāo.
No problem, I'll pick them.

Sources

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