lemon

English

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Wikispecies

A whole and a cut lemon.

A lemon tree.

Etymology

From Old French lymon (“citrus”), from Arabic ليمون (laymūn) or Ottoman Turkish لیمون (limun), from Persian لیمو (limu). Cognate with Sanskrit निम्ब (nimbū, “lime”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɛmən/, X-SAMPA: /"lEm@n/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmən

Noun

lemon (plural lemons)

1. A yellowish citrus fruit.
2. A semitropical evergreen tree, Citrus limon, that bears such fruits.
3. A taste or flavour/flavor of lemons.
4. A more or less bright shade of yellow associated with lemon fruits.

   lemon flesh colour:

   lemon rind colour:

5. (slang) A defective or inadequate item.

   He didn’t realise until he’d paid for it that the car was a lemon.

6. (Cockney rhyming slang, from "lemon tart") Smart; cheeky, vocal.
   • 2009, Caitlin Moran, ‘Why I love paying tax’, The Times, 12 Oct 2009:

     Obviously Emin is not the first public figure to get lemon over tax increases.

7. (Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from “lemon flavour”) favour, favor.

   A thousand quid for that motor? Do me a lemon, I could get it for half that.

8. (fandom slang) A piece of fanfiction involving explicit sex (named after the erotic anime series Cream Lemon).

Synonyms

• (defective item): bomb

Derived terms

terms derived from lemon

bitter lemon lemon balm lemon cheese lemon chiffon lemon chiffon pie lemon crab lemon curd lemon drop lemon grass lemon juice

lemon law lemon lime lemon meringue pie lemon myrtle lemon soda lemon sole lemon squeezer lemon squash lemon thyme lemon verbena

lemon vervain lemon yellow lemonade lemonade berry lemon-belly lemongrass lemon-squeezer lemony

Related terms

• limonene

See also

• adverse selection

Translations

citrus fruit

• Afrikaans: suurlemoen (af)
• Albanian: limon (sq) m
• Arabic: ليمون (ar) (laymūn) m

  Egyptian Arabic: لمون (lamūn) m

  Moroccan Arabic: حمض (ḥamḍ)

• Armenian: լիմոն (hy) (limon)
• Asturian: llimón (ast) m
• Azeri: limon (az)
• Basque: limoi (eu)
• Belarusian: лімон (be) (limón) m, цытрына (be) (cytrýna) f
• Bengali: লেবু (bn) (lebu)
• Breton: sitron (br) m, sitronoù (br) pl, suraval (br) m, (1) suravaloù (br) pl
• Bulgarian: лимон (bg) (limón) m
• Burmese: ရှောက် (my) (shau'), သံပရို (my) (than bajou)
• Catalan: llimona (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 檸檬 (cmn), 柠檬 (cmn) (níngméng)

• Czech: citrón (cs) m, citron (cs)
• Danish: citron (da)
• Dutch: citroen (nl) f
• Esperanto: citrono (eo), limono (eo), cedrato (eo)
• Estonian: sidrun (et)
• Ewe: mumue n
• Faroese: sitrón (fo) f
• Finnish: sitruuna (fi)
• French: citron (fr) m
• Galician: limón (gl) m
• Georgian: ლიმონი (ka) (limoni)
• German: Zitrone (de) f
• Greek: λεμόνι (el) (lemóni) n
• Guernésiais: limaon m
• Hebrew: לימון (he) (limón) m
• Hindi: नींबू (hi) (nīmbū) m, नीबू (hi) (nībū) m
• Hungarian: citrom (hu)
• Icelandic: sítróna (is) f
• Ido: citrono (io)
• Indonesian: jeruk sitrun (id), jeruk lemon (id)
• Irish: líomóid (ga) f
• Italian: limone (it) m
• Japanese: レモン (ja) (remon)
• Jèrriais: limon m
• Kannada: ಇಲಿಮಿಂಚಿ (kn) (ilimin̄ci)
• Kazakh: лимон (kk) (lïmon)
• Khmer: ក្រូចឆ្មារ (km) (krooc cmaa)
• Korean: 레몬 (ko) (remon)
• Kyrgyz: лимон (ky) (limon)
• Lao: ໝາກນາວ (lo) (mȁːk náːu)

• Latin: citreus (la)
• Latvian: citrons (lv) m
• Lithuanian: citrina (lt) f
• Lojban: pelnimre (jbo)
• Luhya: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Zitroun (lb) f
• Macedonian: лимон (mk) (límon) m, colloq. цитрон (mk) (citrón) m
• Malay: jeruk (ms), limau (ms)
• Malayalam: ചെറുനാരങ്ങ (ml) (cheRu naarangnga)
• Maltese: lumija (mt) f
• Marathi: लिंबू (mr) (limbū) n
• Mongolian: нимбэг (mn) (nimbeg)
• Navajo: chʼil łitsooí díkʼǫ́zhígíí
• Norwegian: sitron (no) m
• Persian: لیمون (fa) (limun), لیمو (fa) (limu)
• Polish: cytryna (pl) f
• Portuguese: limão (pt) m
• Romanian: lămâie (ro) f
• Romansch: citrona (rm) f
• Russian: лимон (ru) (limón) m
• Scots: leemon
• Scottish Gaelic: liomaid (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ли̏мӯн (sh) m

  Roman: lȉmūn (sh) m

• Sinhalese: රට දෙහි (si) (raṭa dehi)
• Slovak: citrón (sk) m
• Slovene: limona (sl) f
• Somali: liindhanaan (so)
• Spanish: limón (es) m, citrón (es)
• Swahili: ndimu (sw), limau (sw)
• Swedish: citron (sv) c
• Tajik: лиму (tg) (limu), лимон (tg) (limon), лимӯ (tg) (limü)
• Tamil: எலுமிச்சம் பழம் (ta) (elumicham pazham)
• Taos: lìmunéna
• Tatar: лимон (tt) (limon)
• Telugu: నిమ్మకాయ (te) (nimmakaaya)
• Thai: มะนาว (th) (manaao)
• Turkish: limon (tr)
• Turkmen: limon (tk)
• Ukrainian: лимон (uk) (lymón) m
• Urdu: نیبو (ur) (nībū) m
• Uzbek: limon (uz)
• Vietnamese: quả chanh (vi), chanh (vi)
• West Frisian: sitroen (fy)

tree

• Basque: limoiondo (eu)
• Catalan: llimoner (ca) m, llimonera (ca) f
• Chamicuro: enopi
• Dhivehi: (lumbo)
• Dutch: citroenboom (nl)
• Ewe: mumueti n
• Finnish: sitruunapuu (fi)
• French: citronnier (fr) m
• Galician: limoeiro (gl) m
• Greek: λεμονιά (el) (lemoniá) f
• Italian: limone (it) m
• Jèrriais: limongni m
• Korean: 레몬 (ko) (remon), 레몬나무 (ko) (remon-namu)

• Macedonian: лимон (mk) (límon) m
• Malayalam: ചെറുനാരകം (ml) (cheRu naarakam)
• Maltese: lumija (mt)
• Marathi: लिंबू (mr) (limboo) n
• Polish: drzewo cytrynowe (pl) n, cytryna (pl) f
• Portuguese: limoeiro (pt) m
• Romanian: lămâi (ro) m
• Russian: лимон (ru) (limón) m
• Slovene: limonovec (sl) m
• Spanish: limonero (es) m, limón (es) m
• Swahili: mdimu (sw)
• Swedish: citronträd (sv) n, citron (sv) c
• Vietnamese: cây chanh (vi)

defective item

• Dutch: kat in de zak (nl)
• Finnish: susi (fi), maanantaikappale (fi)
• French: chiotte (fr) f, (Quebec) citron (fr) m
• Greek: αποτυχία (el) (apotikhía) f

• Polish: rzęch (pl) m
• Spanish: maula (es) f, porquería (es) f
• Swahili: ndimu (sw)
• Vietnamese: (noun +) vô dụng (vi)

colour/color

• Catalan: llimona (ca)
• Dutch: citroengeel (nl)
• Finnish: sitruunankeltainen (fi)
• French: jaune citron (fr)
• Japanese: レモン色 (ja) (れもんいろ, remoniro)

• Marathi: लिंबू (mr) (limboo) n
• Polish: cytrynowy (pl) m
• Swahili: ndimu (sw)
• Swedish: citrongul (sv)
• Vietnamese: màu chanh (vi)

taste

• Dutch: citroensmaak (nl)
• Finnish: sitruuna (fi), sitruunan maku (fi)
• Japanese: レモン味 (ja) (れもんあじ, remonaji)

• Spanish: (sabor) limón
• Swahili: ndimu (sw)
• Vietnamese: vị chanh (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: llimona (ca) f

• Romanian: lămâi (ro) m, galben-verziu (ro), acru (ro)

Adjective

lemon (comparative more lemon, superlative most lemon)

1. Containing or having the flavour/flavor and/or scent of lemons.
2. Of the pale yellow colour/color of lemons.

Translations

having the flavour/flavor and/or scent of lemons

• Dutch: citroen- (nl)
• Finnish: sitruunan makuinen (fi), (prefix in a compound) sitruuna- (fi)
• French: au citron (fr)
• Greek: λεμονί (el) (lemoní)
• Italian: al limone (it)
• Polish: cytrynowy (pl) m

• Slovak: citrónový (sk) m
• Slovene: limonin (sl) m, limonov (sl) m
• Swahili: ndimu (sw)
• Swedish: compounds with citron (sv)
• Telugu: నిమ్మ (te) (nimma)
• Vietnamese: (có) vị chanh (flavor), (mùi) chanh (scent)

having the colour/color of lemons

• Dutch: citroengele (nl)
• Estonian: sidrunkollane (et)
• Finnish: sitruunankeltainen (fi), sitruunan värinen (fi)
• French: jaune citron (fr)
• Greek: λεμονί (el) (lemoní)
• Polish: cytrynowy (pl) m

• Romanian: galben-verziu (ro)
• Spanish: limonado (es)
• Swahili: ndimu (sw)
• Swedish: citrongul (sv)
• Vietnamese: màu chanh (vi)

See also

• citrine
• citron
• citronella
• melissa
• fever grass
• Appendix:Colors

Anagrams

• melon

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Esperanto

Noun

lemon

1. accusative singular of lemo