In several cultures, its fruit and leaves are ritually used as floral decorations at weddings, public celebrations and religious ceremonies.

The word mango comes from the Portuguese manga, which is probably derived from the Malayalam മാങ്ങ (māṅṅa; pronounced "manga"). The word's first recorded attestation in a European language was a text by Ludovico di Varthema in Italian in 1510, as Manga; the first recorded occurrences in languages such as French and post-classical Latin appear to be translations from this Italian text. The origin of the -o ending in English is unclear.

When mangos were first imported to the American colonies in the 1600s, they had to be pickled due to lack of refrigeration. Other fruits were also pickled and came to be called "mangos" (especially bell peppers), and by the 18th century, the word "mango" became a verb meaning to pickle".

Mango trees (Mangifera indica L.) grow 35–40 m (115–130 ft) tall, with a crown radius of 10 m (33 ft). The mango tree is long-lived, as some specimens still fruit after 300 years.[citation needed] In deep soil the taproot descends to a depth of 6 m (20 ft) and the profuse, wide-spreading feeder roots also send down many anchor roots, which penetrate several feet of soil. The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 15–35 cm (5.9–14 in) long and 6–16 cm (2.4–6.3 in) broad; when the leaves are young they are orange-pink, rapidly changing to a dark glossy red, then dark green as they mature. The flowers are produced in terminal panicles 10–40 cm (3.9–16 in) long; each flower is small and white with five petals 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long, with a mild sweet odor suggestive of lily of the valley. The fruit takes three to six months to ripen.

The ripe fruit is variable in size and color. Cultivars are variously yellow, orange, red or green and carry a single flat, oblong pit that can be fibrous or hairy on the surface and which does not separate easily from the pulp. Ripe, unpeeled fruit gives off a distinctive resinous, sweet smell. Inside the pit 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) thick is a thin lining covering a single seed, 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in) long. The seed contains the plant embryo.

Mangoes have been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years and reached East Asia between the 5th–4th century BC. By the 10th century AD, cultivation had begun in East Africa, coming later to Brazil, West Indies and Mexico, where an appropriate climate allows its growth. The 14th century Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battuta, reported it at Mogadishu.

Mango is now cultivated in most frost-free tropical and warmer subtropical climates; nearly half of the world's mangoes are cultivated in India alone. Mango is also being grown in Andalusia, Spain (mainly in Málaga province), which is one of the few places in mainland Europe that allow growth of tropical plants and fruit trees. Many of the 1,000 + mango cultivars are easily cultivated using grafted saplings, ranging from the "turpentine mango" (named for its strong taste of turpentine, which according to the Oxford Companion to Food some varieties actually contain) to the huevos de toro ("eggs of the bull", a euphemism for "bull's testicles", referring to the shape and size).

Other cultivators include North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, south, west and central Africa, Australia, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia. Though India is the largest producer of mangoes, it accounts for less than one percent of the international mango trade, consuming most of its own output.

Dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties serve as ornamental plants and can be grown in containers.

A wide variety of diseases can afflict mangoes; see List of mango diseases.