limão
See also: lìmào and lǐmào
Portuguese
![](Images/wiktionary/Lemon_and_lime.jpg.webp)
A lemon (left) and a lime. (right)
Etymology
From Andalusian Arabic لَيْمُون, from Arabic لَيْمُون (laymūn), from Persian لیمو (limu), لیمون (limun).
Pronunciation
- (Portugal, Brazil) IPA(key): /liˈmɐ̃w̃/
- Hyphenation: li‧mão
Noun
limão m (plural limões)
- lemon (citrus fruit)
- (Brazil) lime (citrus fruit)
- (Southern Brazil) lemandarin, rangpur
Usage notes
- In Brazil, unless otherwise specified, the variants key lime (Citrus × latifolia) and persian lime (Citrus × aurantiifolia) are assumed. In southern regions, lemandarin (Citrus × limonia) may be assumed as well.
- Brazilians also consider a lemon (Citrus limon) to be a limão, but of a very specific kind. Therefore, it won't come their mind at first, if not enough context is given.
- Non-Brazilians will enthusiastically refuse to call a lime a limão.
- Consider using the synonym limão-siciliano to unambiguously refer to a lemon across the Portuguese-speaking world. Use lima, for a lime.
Synonyms
- (lemon): limão-siciliano
- (lime): lima
Related terms
- limoeiro
Descendants
- Swahili: limau
- Malay: limau
- Indonesian: limau
Further reading
limão on the Portuguese Wikipedia.Wikipedia pt