How to say "potato" in Japanese

• ポテトCommon
  nounThe loanword for potato, heard chiefly in food contexts such as menus and snack foods; for the vegetable itself in cooking or shopping, じゃがいも is the word to use.
• 芋いもCommon
  nounA broad term for starchy tubers — taro, yam, potato and similar crops — and often understood as taro when used alone; it is seldom the precise word for potato.
  いもを食たべるとおならがでる。↗

  Potatoes give me wind.
• じゃがいもCommon
  nounThe specific word for the potato, Solanum tuberosum, covering the plant and its tuber; use it when you mean potato itself, as in recipes or at the market. Usually written in kana alone.
  今いまはジャガイモの世話せわをしている。↗

  I take care of the potatoes now.

For potato as a vegetable or ingredient use 「じゃがいも」; 「ポテト」 is the loanword, heard mainly in food contexts; 芋 covers tubers in general and often means taro, so it seldom means potato specifically.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• ポテトpotato
• 芋いもtuber
• じゃがいもpotato (Solanum tuberosum)
• じゃがpotato
• ジャガタラいもpotato (Solanum tuberosum)
• 馬鈴薯ばれいしょpotato (Solanum tuberosum)
• バタタpotato
• 琉球芋りゅうきゅういもpotato (Solanum tuberosum)
• ジャガタラpotato (Solanum tuberosum)