See also: Lemon and lemön

EnglishEdit

 
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A whole and a cut lemon.
 
A lemon tree.

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English lymon, from Old French lymon (citrus), from Arabic لَيْمُون(laymūn) or Ottoman Turkish لیمون(limon), ultimately from Persian لیمو(limu).[1] Cognate with Sanskrit निम्बू (nimbū, lime). Doublet of lime.

The fandom sense is named after the erotic anime series Cream Lemon.[2]

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

lemon (plural lemons)

  1. A yellowish citrus fruit.
  2. A semitropical evergreen tree, Citrus limon, that bears such fruits.
  3. A more or less bright shade of yellow associated with lemon fruits.
    lemon flesh:  
    lemon rind:  
  4. (slang) A defective or inadequate item or individual.
    He didn’t realise until he’d paid for it that the car was a lemon.
    • 1951, Herman Wouk, chapter 20, in The Caine Mutiny, page 243:
      [] the Navy's supposed to give me a ship that goes, and a captain that fights—— That's what all this muck is for, isn't it?”
      “Look, it's an old story by now. We're stuck with a lemon. Misfortune of war. []
  5. (Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from “lemon flavour”) Favor.
    A thousand quid for that motor? Do me a lemon! I could get it for half that.
  6. (fandom slang) A piece of fanfiction involving explicit sex.
    • 1997 April 18, Neko, “[Dominion][FanFic][Lemon] A Typical Night at the Station”, in rec.arts.anime.creative[1] (Usenet):
      I'd really like to know what people think of this and whether I should carry on writing lemons or go and hide under a rock somewhere.
    • 2000 May 30, Ian Blakeman, “[Eva][FanFic][Lemon] A day at Misatos appartment[sic]”, in rec.arts.anime.creative[2] (Usenet):
      WARNING: This story is a lemon and must be viewed with great care. If you are either under the age of 18, think graphic sex is discussing[sic] or you know what my writing is like you should turn away now.
    • 2002 November 10, Goku Girl, “[DBZ][FanFic][Yaoi] Saiya-jin no Suto-ri Ichi (part one)”, in rec.arts.anime.creative[3] (Usenet):
      This won't be a lemon simply because I can't see myself writing anything like that.

SynonymsEdit

HypernymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See alsoEdit

AdjectiveEdit

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.
  3. (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.

TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

lemon (third-person singular simple present lemons, present participle lemoning, simple past and past participle lemoned)

  1. (transitive) To flavour with lemon.
    You can start the vegetables cooking while you are lemoning the fish.

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “lemon”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ Maria Lindgren Leavenworth & Malin Isaksson, Fanged Fan Fiction: Variations on Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, page 118

AnagramsEdit

EsperantoEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

lemon

  1. accusative singular of lemo

WelshEdit

 
Welsh Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cy

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From English lemon.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

lemon m (plural lemonau, not mutable)

  1. lemon

Western Huasteca NahuatlEdit

NounEdit

lemon

  1. lemon.