Question Ably - 19: Answer

Zucchini. That's the answer I was looking for. Here's how it relates to the question: zucchini is a member of the squash family, though one of the smaller members. In Italian, the word for squash is 'zucca'. Since zucchini isn't as big as the other squashes, it's small size is captured by the '-ini'.

I was thinking of other '-ini' food words in Italian to mean 'little' and remembered 'crostini' ('little toasts') and 'fettucini' ('little ribbons').

In English, 'zucchini' is used both as singular and plural. 'Zucchinis' is also accepted usage.

The British and French call this the 'courgette', from the French 'courge' for squash with the '-ette' added, again to signify its smallness.

Wiki tells us that the zucchini is an '...immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower'. Not exactly appetizing, but that's how it is.

This question elicited the most answers, though only one was correct. Thanks to them my knowledge of veggies has grown exponentially over the last one day. A look at some of the answers:

Carrot: It is a vegetable.

Chayote (seemae badanaekayi in Kannada, chow chow in Hindi): This was a good try but didn't satisfy all the elements of the question.

Eggplant: Another good try. But this one is native to India.

Pumpkin: Phew! This was close. This is a fruit, a member of the squash family like the zucchini. The name's origins are Greek. I got away because of the other parts of the question.

Cucumber: Nowhere as close as pumpkin but this satisfied some elements of the question. It originated in India.

Tomato: Name originates from Central America.

Capsicum: Satisfies the fruit - veggie anomaly, has Greek origins in the name but some other elements of the question are unanswered. 

Good round!