lemon

lemon

See also: Lemon and lemön

English

Wikispecies

A whole and a cut lemon.

A lemon tree.

Etymology

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]

Pronunciation

• enPR: lĕ'mən, IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.mən/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmən
• (US)
  • (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪ.mɪn/

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:  

   lemon rind:  

5. (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. […] ”

6. (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.

7. (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, 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, 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, Usenet‎:

     This won't be a lemon simply because I can't see myself writing anything like that.

Synonyms

• (defective item): bomb
• (erotic fanfiction): PWP, smutfic

Hypernyms

• fruit
  • citrus

Derived terms

• bitter lemon
• do me a lemon
• lemonade
• lemonade berry
• lemon balm
• lemon-belly
• lemon cheese
• lemon chiffon
• lemon chiffon pie
• lemon crab
• lemon curd
• lemon drop
• lemongrass
• lemon grass
• lemon juice
• lemon laundering
• lemon law
• lemon lime
• lemon meringue pie
• lemon myrtle
• lemon soda
• lemon sole
• lemon squash
• lemon-squeezer
• lemon squeezer
• lemon thyme
• lemon verbena
• lemon vervain
• lemony
• lemon yellow
• sit there like a lemon
• stand there like a lemon

 

Related terms

• limonene

Translations

citrus fruit

Afrikaans: suurlemoen (af) Albanian: limon (sq) m Arabic: لَيْمُون‎ m (laymūn) Egyptian Arabic: لمون‎ m (lamūn) (collective), لمونة‎ f (lamūna) (singulative) Moroccan Arabic: حامض‎ (ḥāmeḍ) (collective), حامضة‎ (ḥāmḍa) (singulative) Armenian: կիտրոն (hy) (kitron), լիմոն (hy) (limon) Assamese: নেমু (nemu), নেমু-টেঙা (nemu-teṅa) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܠܝܼܡܘܼܢܵܐ‎ m (līmuna) Asturian: llimón (ast) m Azerbaijani: limon (az) Basque: limoi (eu) Belarusian: лімо́н m (limón), цытры́на f (cytrýna) Bengali: লেবু (bn) (lebu) Breton: sitron m, sitronoù pl, suraval m, (1) suravaloù pl Bulgarian: лимо́н (bg) m (limón) Burmese: ရှောက် (my) (hrauk), သံပရို (my) (sampa.rui) Catalan: llimona (ca) f Chichewa: ndimu Chinese: Cantonese: 檸檬, 柠檬 (ning4 mung1) Hakka: 檸檬, 柠檬 (lê-móng) Mandarin: 檸檬／柠檬 (zh) (níngméng) Min Nan: 檸檬 (zh-min-nan), 柠檬 (lê-bóng) Cornish: lymmaval Czech: citrón (cs) m, citron (cs) Danish: citron (da) c Dhivehi: ގޮމަށި‎ (gomaṣi) Dutch: citroen (nl) f Dzongkha: ཧུམ་ཅུང (hum cung) Esperanto: citrono (eo) Estonian: sidrun Ewe: mumue n Faroese: sitrón f Fijian: moli karokaro Finnish: sitruuna (fi) French: citron (fr) m Galician: limón (gl) m, cidrón m Georgian: ლიმონი (limoni) German: Zitrone (de) f Greek: λεμόνι (el) n (lemóni) Gujarati: લીંબુ (lī̃bu) Hawaiian: lemi Hebrew: לִימוֹן‎ (he) m (limón) Hindi: नींबू m (nīmbū), नीबू (hi) m (nībū) Hungarian: citrom (hu) Hunsrik: Zitron f Icelandic: sítróna (is) f Ido: citrono (io) Indonesian: jeruk sitrun (id), jeruk lemon Irish: líomóid f Italian: limone (it) m Japanese: 檸檬 (ja) (レモン, remon), レモン (ja) (remon) Javanese: jeruk (jv) Kalmyk: нимбә (nimbä) Kannada: ಇಲಿಮಿಂಚಿ (kn) (ilimiñci), ನಿಂಬೆ (nimbe) Kazakh: лимон (kk) (limon) Khmer: ក្រូចឆ្មារ (km) (krooc cmaa) Korean: 레몬 (ko) (remon) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: لیمۆ‎ (ku) (lîmo) Northern Kurdish: lîmon (ku) Kyrgyz: лимон (ky) (limon) Lao: ໝາກນາວ (lo) (māk nāo) Latin: citreus Latvian: citrons m Lithuanian: citrina (lt) f Luhya: please add this translation if you can Luxembourgish: Zitroun (lb) f Macedonian: ли́мон m (límon), colloq. цитро́н m (citrón) Malay: jeruk, limau (ms) Malayalam: ചെറുനാരങ്ങ (ceṟunāraṅṅa), നാരങ്ങ (ml) (nāraṅṅa) Maltese: lumija f Manx: limon, limonagh Maori: rēmana Marathi: लिंबू (limbū) Megleno-Romanian: limonă f Middle English: lymon Mongolian: Cyrillic: нимбэг (mn) (nimbeg), лимон (mn) (limon) (Mongolia, pronounced 'lyamon') Mongolian: ᠨᠢᠮᠪᠡᠭᠡ (nimbege), ᠯᠢᠮᠣᠨ (limon) Navajo: chʼil łitsooí díkʼǫ́zhígíí Nepali: निम्बू (nimbū) Norman: limaon m (Guernsey), limon m (Jersey) Norwegian: Bokmål: sitron (no) m Nynorsk: sitron m Ottoman Turkish: لیمون‎ (limon) Persian: لیمون‎ (fa) (limun), لیمو‎ (fa) (limu) Piedmontese: limon m Plautdietsch: Zitroon f Polish: cytryna (pl) f Portuguese: limão (pt) m (European Portuguese), limão siciliano (Brazilian Portuguese) Punjabi: ਨਿੰਬੂ (pa) (nimbū) Romanian: lămâie (ro) f Romansch: citrona f Russian: лимо́н (ru) m (limón) Samoan: moli tipolo Sanskrit: निम्बू (sa) m (nimbū) Scots: leemon Scottish Gaelic: liomaid f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ли̏мӯн m Roman: lȉmūn (sh) m Sicilian: limiuni (scn) m, lumìa (scn) Sindhi: ليم‎ Sinhalese: රට දෙහි (raṭa dehi) Slovak: citrón (sk) m Slovene: limona (sl) f Somali: liindhanaan Spanish: limón (es) m, citrón Swahili: ndimu (sw), limau (sw) Swedish: citron (sv) c Sylheti: ꠟꠦꠝ꠆ꠛꠥ (lembu) Tajik: лиму (limu), лимон (tg) (limon), лимӯ (tg) (limü) Tamil: எலுமிச்சம் பழம் (ta) (elumiccam paḻam) Taos: lìmunéna Tatar: лимон (limon) Telugu: నిమ్మకాయ (te) (nimmakāya) Tetum: derok Thai: มะนาว (th) (má-naao) Tibetan: ལེ་མོན (le mon) Tigrinya: ለሚን (lämin) Tongan: moli lemani, lemani Tsonga: xikwavava Turkish: limon (tr), cıcık (tr) (dialectal), suluzırtlak (dialectal), zıvrak (dialectal) Turkmen: limon Ukrainian: лимо́н (uk) m (lymón) Urdu: نیبو‎ m (nībū) Uyghur: لىمون‎ (limon) Uzbek: limon (uz) Vietnamese: chanh (vi) Welsh: lemon (cy), lemwn (cy) West Frisian: sitroen White Hmong: txiv qaub Wolof: limoŋ Yiddish: לימענע‎ f (limene), ציטראָן‎ m (tsitron) Zhuang: makningzmungx, makcengz

tree

Armenian: կիտրոն (hy) (kitron), լիմոն (hy) (limon) Assamese: নেমু গছ (nemu gos) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܝܼܠܵܢܵܐ ܕܠܝܼܡܘܼܢܵܐ‎ m (īlana d-līmuna) Asturian: llimonal (ast) Basque: limoiondo Bengali: লেবু গাছ (lebu gachô) Bulgarian: лимон (bg) m (limon) Catalan: llimoner m, llimonera f Chamicuro: enopi Chinese: Mandarin: 檸檬樹／柠檬树 (níngméngshù) Czech: citroník (cs) m Dhivehi: (lumbo) Dutch: citroenboom (nl) Esperanto: citrinarbo Ewe: mumueti n Finnish: sitruunapuu French: citronnier (fr) m Galician: limoeiro (gl) m, cidreira (gl) f German: Zitronenbaum (de) m, Zitrone (de) f Greek: λεμονιά (el) f (lemoniá) Italian: limone (it) m Kalmyk: нимбә (nimbä) Korean: 레몬 (ko) (remon), 레몬나무 (remonnamu) Macedonian: ли́мон m (límon) Malayalam: ചെറുനാരകം (ml) (ceṟunārakaṃ), നാരകം (ml) (nārakaṃ) Maltese: lumija Marathi: लिंबू (limbū) Nahuatl: limoncuahuitl Norman: limongni m (Jersey) Northern Sami: sitrovdna Polish: drzewo cytrynowe n, cytryna (pl) f Portuguese: limoeiro (pt) m Romanian: lămâi (ro) m Russian: лимо́н (ru) m (limón) Slovene: limonovec m Spanish: limonero (es) m, limón (es) m Swahili: mdimu (sw) Swedish: citronträd n, citron (sv) c Turkish: limon (tr), limon ağacı Vietnamese: chanh (vi)

defective item

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: kat in de zak Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: susi (fi), maanantaikappale (fi) French: chiotte (fr) f, (Quebec) citron (fr) m Georgian: ბრაკი (braḳi) German: Gurke (de) f, Krücke (de) f Greek: αποτυχία (el) f (apotychía) Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: please add this translation if you can Polish: rzęch (pl) m Portuguese: porcaria (pt) f Russian: фуфло́ (ru) n (fufló) Spanish: maula (es) f, porquería (es) f Swahili: ndimu (sw) Swedish: måndagsexemplar (sv) Turkish: dandik (tr) Vietnamese: (noun +) (please verify) vô dụng (vi)

colour/color

Bulgarian: лимо́нов (bg) m (limónov) Catalan: llimona (ca) Dutch: citroengeel (nl) Finnish: sitruunankeltainen French: jaune citron (fr) Galician: limón (gl) m German: Zitronengelb n Greek: λεμονί (el) n (lemoní) Hungarian: citromsárga (hu) Irish: buí líomóide m Japanese: 檸檬色 (れもんいろ, remoniro) Latvian: citrondzeltena krāsa f Macedonian: ли́монов (límonov) Marathi: लिंबू n (limbū) Polish: cytrynowy (pl) m Portuguese: limão (pt) m Spanish: limón (es) Swahili: ndimu (sw) Swedish: citrongul (sv) Turkish: limon rengi, limoni (tr) Vietnamese: vàng canh

taste

Bulgarian: лимо́нов (bg) m (limónov) Danish: citronsmag c Dutch: citroensmaak (nl) Finnish: sitruuna (fi), sitruunan maku Galician: limón (gl) m Japanese: レモン味 (レモンあじ, remon aji) Macedonian: ли́монов (límonov) Norwegian: Bokmål: sitronsmak m Polish: cytrynowy (pl) Portuguese: limão (pt) m Spanish: limón (es) Swahili: ndimu (sw) Turkish: limoni (tr) Vietnamese: (please verify) vị chanh

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

Translations to be checked

Catalan: (please verify) llimona (ca) f Romanian: (please verify) lămâi (ro) m, (please verify) galben-verziu, (please verify) acru (ro) Turkish: sulu zırtlak (tr), zıvrak

See also

• 🍋
• adverse selection

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.
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.

Translations

having the flavour/flavor and/or scent of lemons

Bulgarian: лимонов (bg) (limonov) Dutch: (please verify) citroen- Finnish: sitruunan makuinen, (prefix in a compound) sitruuna- French: (please verify) au citron German: compounds with Zitrone (de) Greek: λεμονί (el) (lemoní) Italian: (please verify) al limone Polish: cytrynowy (pl) m Portuguese: limoado Slovak: citrónový (sk) m Slovene: limonin m, limonov 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

Danish: citrongul Dutch: citroengele (nl) Estonian: sidrunkollane Finnish: sitruunankeltainen, sitruunan värinen French: jaune citron (fr) German: zitronengelb (de) Greek: λεμονί (el) (lemoní) Latvian: citrondzeltens Polish: cytrynowy (pl) m Portuguese: limonado, limoado, alimonado, alimoado Romanian: galben-verziu Spanish: limonado, limón (es) Swahili: ndimu (sw) Swedish: citrongul (sv) Vietnamese: màu chanh

Verb

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 also

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

References

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

Anagrams

• Menlo, Monel, melon, nmole

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Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlemon]
• Rhymes: -emon
• Hyphenation: lem‧on

Noun

lemon

1. accusative singular of lemo

---

Welsh

Alternative forms

• lemwn

Etymology

From English lemon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛmɔn/

Noun

lemon m (plural lemonau, not mutable)

1. lemon

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Western Huasteca Nahuatl

Noun

lemon

1. lemon.