Is a tomato actually a vegetable or a fruit?

Answer

A tomato or grape, whether seeded or not, is scientifically the fruit of the plant (because it comes from the ovary, an organ found in the flower). Since the word fruit is closely related to the word fruit (in French or English, for example, there are no separate words for it), it is scientifically not wrong to call tomato fruit. Just like cucumbers, peppers or aubergines, by the way…

But fruit and vegetables are and will initially remain terms from the kitchen. There the definitions are based rather on aspects of taste and use, and not the botanical origin. Vegetables are then rather non-sweetening plant parts that are used in the main course, fruit rather refers to sweet-tasting parts that are usually referred to as dessert, or used as a snack.

So let’s still call tomatoes vegetables, and grapes -seedless or not- fruit…