lemon

See also: Lemon and lemön

English

Wikispecies

A whole and a cut lemon.

A lemon tree.

A lemon shape in geometry.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English lymon, from Old French lymon (“citrus”), from Arabic لَيْمُون (laymūn) or Persian لیمون (limon), from Persian لیمو (limu), from Sanskrit निम्बू (nimbū, “lime”), ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *limaw or Munda. Likely doublet of lime.

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: lĕm'ən, IPA^(key): /ˈlɛm.ən/

  • Audio (London):

    (file)

  • Audio (New Jersey):

    (file)

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

Noun

lemon (plural lemons)

2. A yellowish citrus fruit.
   • 1680, T. K., The Kitchin-Phyſician; Or, a Guide for Good-Housewives in Maintaining Their Families in Health. […] ‎^[1], How to take away Warts off the Face or Hands, page 14:

     The juice of Lemmons killeth Warts, but better the water of the ſame juice, diſtilled through a glaſs.

3. A semitropical evergreen tree, Citrus limon, that bears such fruits.
4. A more or less bright shade of yellow associated with lemon fruits.

   lemon flesh:  

   lemon rind:  

5. A lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris).
6. (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. […] ”

7. (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.

8. (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^[2] (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^[3] (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^[4] (Usenet):

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

10. (geometry) The surface of revolution of a circular arc of angle less than 180° rotated about the straight line passing through the arc’s two endpoints.

    Coordinate term: apple

Alternative forms

• limon (obsolete)

Synonyms

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

Hypernyms

• fruit
  • citrus

Derived terms

• acid of lemon
• bitter lemon
• bush lemon (Citrus jhambiri)
• Canton lemon
• do me a lemon
• easy peasy lemon squeezy
• Ichang lemon (Citrus cavaleriei × Citrus maxima)
• lemonade
• lemon ant (Myrmelachista schumanni)
• lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
• lemon bar
• lemon basil (Ocimum × citriodorum)
• lemon beebrush (Aloysia citrodora)
• lemon-bellied flycatcher (Microeca flavigaster)
• lemon-bellied flyrobin (Microeca flavigaster)
• lemon-belly
• lemon cheese
• lemon chicken
• lemon chiffon
• lemon chiffon pie
• lemon clover (Oxalis stricta)
• lemon curd
• lemon daylily (Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus var., syn. Hemerocallis flava var.)
• lemon drop
• lemon eucalyptus (Corymbia citriodora)
• lemon geranium (Pelargonium crispum)
• lemongrass, lemon grass (Cymbopogon spp., esp. Cymbopogon citratus)
• lemon heaven
• lemon juice
• lemon laundering
• lemon law
• lemon lily (Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus var., syn. Hemerocallis flava var.)
• lemon-lime, lemon lime
• lemon meringue
• lemon meringue pie
• lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)
• lemon pepper
• lemon plait
• lemon shark (Microstomus kitt)
• lemon socialism
• lemon soda
• lemon sole (Microstomus kitt)
• lemon square
• lemon squash
• lemon-squeezer
• lemon squeezer
• lemon tea
• lemon thyme (Thymus spp.)
• lemon verbena, lemon vervain (Aloysia citrodora)
• lemon water
• lemony
• lemon yellow
• Meyer lemon (Citrus × meyeri)
• oil of lemon eucalyptus
• Philippine lemon
• ponderosa lemon (Citrus × pyriformis)
• rough lemon (Citrus jhambiri)
• salt of lemon
• sea lemon (Dorididae spp.; Ximenia americana)
• sit there like a lemon
• stand there like a lemon
• suck a lemon
• sweet lemon (Citrus hybrids)
• water lemon (Passiflora laurifolia)

 

Related terms

• limonene

Descendants

• → Kashubian: lemòna (Canada, United States)

Translations

citrus fruit

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

  Egyptian Arabic: لمون m (lamūn)

  Hijazi Arabic: ليمون m (laymūn)

  Moroccan Arabic: حامض (ḥāmeḍ) (collective), حامضة (ḥāmḍa) (singulative)

  North Levantine Arabic: ليمون m (lēmūn) (Syria), حامُض m (ḥāmoḍ) (Lebanon)

  South Levantine Arabic: لمون m (lamūn)

• 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)

  South Azerbaijani: لیمو (limu/lumu)

• Basque: limoi (eu)
• Belarusian: лімо́н m (limón), цытры́на f (cytrýna)
• Bengali: লেবু (bn) (lebu)
• Bhojpuri: नींबू (nīmbū)
• 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)

  Hokkien: 檸檬 / 柠檬 (zh-min-nan) (lê-bóng)

  Mandarin: 檸檬 / 柠檬 (zh) (níngméng)

• 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

  Alemannic German: Zitroone 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)
• Karelian: limoni
• Kazakh: лимон (limon)
• Khmer: ក្រូចឆ្មារ (km) (krooc cmaa)
• Korean: 레몬 (ko) (remon)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: لیمۆ (lîmo)

  Northern Kurdish: lîmon (ku)

• Kyrgyz: лимон (ky) (limon)
• Lao: ໝາກນາວ (lo) (māk nāo)
• Latin: limon f
• Latvian: citrons (lv) m
• Lithuanian: citrina (lt) f
• Luhya: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Zitroun (lb) f
• Macedonian: ли́мон (mk) m (límon), colloq. цитро́н m (citrón)
• Malagasy: voasary (mg)
• Malay: jeruk, limau (ms)
• Malayalam: ചെറുനാരങ്ങ (ceṟunāraṅṅa), നാരങ്ങ (ml) (nāraṅṅa)
• Maltese: lumija f
• Manx: limon, limonagh
• Maori: rēmana
• Marathi: लिंबू (limbū)
• Mariupol Greek: лемо́н n (ljemón)
• 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

• Occitan: citron (oc)
• Ottoman Turkish: لیمون (limon)
• Pannonian Rusyn: лимун m (limun)
• Pela: kʰjaŋ⁵⁵ tʰui³⁵ ʃɿ³¹
• 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 (es)
• 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), எலுமிச்சை (ta) (elumiccai)
• 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
• Tumbuka: ndimu, zobala
• Turkish: limon (tr), cıcık (tr) (dialectal), suluzırtlak (dialectal), zıvrak (dialectal)
• Turkmen: limon
• Ukrainian: лимо́н (uk) m (lymón), цитри́на (uk) f (cytrýna)
• 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 gach)
• 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: citronarbo
• 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 (mk) m (límon)
• Malayalam: ചെറുനാരകം (ml) (ceṟunārakaṁ), നാരകം (ml) (nārakaṁ)
• Maltese: lumija
• Marathi: लिंबू (limbū)
• Nahuatl: limoncuahuitl
• Norman: limongni m (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: sitrovdna
• Pannonian Rusyn: лимун m (limun)
• 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
• Tatar: лимон (limon)
• Turkish: limon (tr), limon ağacı (tr)
• 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) f
• Dutch: citroengeel (nl)
• Finnish: sitruunankeltainen
• French: jaune citron (fr)
• Galician: limón (gl) m
• German: Zitronengelb n

  Alemannic German: Zitroonegääl n

• Greek: λεμονί (el) n (lemoní)
• Hungarian: citromsárga (hu)
• Irish: buí líomóide m
• Japanese: 檸檬色 (れもんいろ, remoniro)
• Korean: 레몬색 (ko) (remonsaek)
• 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)
• Catalan: llimona (ca) f
• 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

• 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 October 12, Caitlin Moran, “Why I love paying tax”, in The Times:

     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
• Pannonian Rusyn: лимункови (limunkovi)
• 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

Anagrams

• Menlo, Monel, melon, nmole

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

Related terms

• lemonêd (“lemonade”)

Western Huasteca Nahuatl

Noun

lemon

1. lemon.