आलू
ālū/ɑː.luː/masculine
The Hindi word for potato is आलू (ālū).
आलू refers to the starchy plant tuber used as a vegetable. You may encounter the phrase आलू की भाजी (आलू की भाजी), which translates to potato fry or potato curry.
Meaning: plant tuber eaten as starchy vegetable (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced as /ɑː.luː/ (ālū).
Did you know?
- In common Indian parlance, आलू is often called the 'king of vegetables' because it is used to add bulk and texture to almost any other vegetable dish.
- While 'potato' is now the standard meaning of आलू, the word originally referred to the 'elephant foot yam' in Sanskrit.
- Depending on the historical linguistic layer, आलू can be seen as either a direct descendant of Sanskrit or a loanword from Classical Persian.
Examples in context
- फ़्रेंच या फ़ारसी जैसे कुछ भाषाओं में, आलू को 'ज़मीन का सेब' कहते है।In some languages like French or Persian, a potato is called an 'apple of the earth'.This sentence is useful for noting that in some languages, the potato is referred to as an 'apple of the earth', while in Hindi it is called आलू.Tatoeba #2657641 by sabretou, translation #2657638 by sabretou
- मुझे आलू पसंद हैं।mujhe aaloo pasand hain.I like potatoes.
- क्या आपके पास आलू हैं?kya aapke paas aaloo hain?Do you have potatoes?
Example conversation
Pooja and Aditya are deciding what to cook for dinner.
- पूजा Poojaआज रात के लिए क्या बनायें?aaj raat ke liye kya banaayein?What should we make for tonight?
- आदित्य Adityaक्या हम आलू की सब्ज़ी बना सकते हैं?kya hum aaloo ki sabzi bana sakte hain?Can we make a potato curry?
- पूजा Poojaहाँ, यह एक अच्छा विचार है।haan, yeh ek achchha vichaar hai.Yes, that is a good idea.
- आदित्य Adityaठीक है, मैं आलू काट देता हूँ।theek hai, main aaloo kaat deta hoon.Okay, I will cut the potatoes.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “potato” translations and entries आलू, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries आलू, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
