Comments by "EebstertheGreat" (@EebstertheGreat) on "Eggplant vs. Aubergine vs. Brinjal — Why so many names?" video.

  1. "Zucchini" comes from the plural of zucchina (originally m zucchino), even though in English, we use -i for both the singular and plural. Zucchino is a diminutive form of zucca, meaning "the mature fruit of the marrow plant" (aka "marrow squash") . . . or also "pumpkin" or "squash." Zuchinni/courgettes are harvested early in the summer long before they are ripe, whereas when they are harvested in the fall, they are called "marrow." "Courgette" comes from the French, a diminutive of courge, which also means "marrow squash." Both these words (along with "gourd," "cucumber," and many others) ultimately come from Latin cucurbita meaning "gourd." So in the end, both "zucchini" and "courgette" just mean "little gourd," but they came from Latin through different languages (Italian and French, resp.), making them a linguistic doublet.
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  2.  @pendlera2959  The word "marrow" for the soft tissue inside bones comes from the late 14th century, before the Columbian exchange, and thus before any English-speaker had seen a squash. The word "marrow" for the vegetable comes from the early 19th century, over 400 years later. Before then, it had various names to distinguish it from other squashes. Personally, I don't see zucchini as actually looking much like bone marrow, but I guess a thick-skinned squash with soft white flesh does kind of resemble it.
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