grapefruit

Meaning

Noun

• The tree of the species Citrus paradisi, a hybrid of pomelo (Citrus maxima) and sweet orange.
• The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree.

Related

Similar words

• grapefruit tree; Citrus × paradisi (nothospecies); Citrus sinensis × Citrus grandis (species), Citrus sinensis × Citrus maxima

Origin

• Widely assumed to be a marketing term from grape + fruit, an allusion to the supposed grapelike clusters of fruit on the tree{{cite-book
• |title=Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the twenty-first Session of the Legislature of the State of California
• |volume=V
• |chapter=Report of the Secretary–the pomelo
• |location=Sacramento
• |year=1895
• |page=65
• |pageurl=https://books.google.de/books?id=7SNIAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA65&hl=it&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjW_YqHiMrgAhUmMuwKHcCPClIQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&f=false
• , early Ciardi proposes another theory: one of the pummelo's botanical names is Citrus grandis (species), meaning "great citrus [fruit]", due to the size of its fruit. A new pummelo variety might first have been called a "greatfruit" (see greatfruit), and through the process of dissimilation, the word came to be pronounced "grapefruit".