[ 'əʊbəʒi:n ]
■ noun chiefly Brit.
1》 the purple egg-shaped fruit of a tropical plant, eaten as a vegetable.
2》 the plant of the nightshade family which bears ~s. [ Solanum melongena .]
Origin
C18: from Fr., from Catalan alberginia , from Arab. al-bāḏinjān .