A potato is a starchy vegetable that grows underground as a tuber, which means it's actually a swollen part of the plant's stem that stores energy. Potatoes originally came from South America, where people in the Andes Mountains first cultivated them thousands of years ago. Spanish explorers brought potatoes to Europe in the 1500s, and they eventually became one of the world's most important food crops.

You've probably eaten potatoes prepared dozens of different ways: mashed, baked, fried as French fries or chips, roasted, or boiled. Their mild flavor and filling nature make them incredibly versatile. A single potato plant can produce ten or more potatoes underground, making them an efficient crop that helped feed growing populations throughout history.

The potato's impact on world history is remarkable. In Ireland, potatoes became so central to the diet that when a disease destroyed the crop in the 1840s, it caused a devastating famine. Today, potatoes remain a staple food across the globe, from papas fritas in Latin America to Kartoffeln in Germany to the classic American baked potato.

People sometimes use “potato” as slang for a low-quality camera or phone (potato quality), playing on the idea that the image looks as lumpy and unclear as a potato's bumpy surface.