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grapefruit

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A tropical or semitropical evergreen tree (Citrus paradisi) cultivated for its edible fruit.
  • noun The large, round fruit of this tree, having a yellow rind and juicy, somewhat acid pulp.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The pomelo, a smaller variety of the shaddock, Citrus decumana: so called in the markets of the northern cities of the United States, probably from its grape-like flavor. It is now successfully cultivated in Florida. See pomelo, shaddock.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A citrus tree (Citrus paradisi) bearing large round edible fruit having a thick yellow rind and juicy somewhat acid pulp.
  • noun The large yellow fruit of the Citrus paradisi, having somewhat acid juicy pulp. It is a popular breakfast food.
  • The shaddock.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The tree of the species Citrus paradisi.
  • noun The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large yellow fruit with somewhat acid juicy pulp; usual serving consists of a half
  • noun citrus tree bearing large round edible fruit having a thick yellow rind and juicy somewhat acid pulp

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably so called because the fruit grows in clusters.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From grape +‎ fruit, an allusion to the grapelike clusters of fruit on the tree. Ciardi proposes another theory. The pummelo's botanical name was Citrus grandis, meaning "great citrus [fruit]", due to the large size of the fruits. It would be natural to call the new pummelo variety a "greatfruit". By saying that name a few times, with its consonant cluster, it sounds like "grapefruit", and it would easily have morphed to that form. This second suggestion is completely speculative, without attestation, but seems much more reasonable than the equally speculative "grape cluster" theory. Actually, pummelo fruits do not not grow in grapelike clusters.

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Examples

  • If you're wondering about the name grapefruit, it references the fact that the fruit grows in grape-like clusters on the tree.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Kitchen Daily 2012

  • My co-worker brought in a huge bag of grapefruit from the Valley (yes, the Texas valley).

    An epiphany about grapefruit | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2009

  • We just enjoyed some grapefruit from a neighbor whose parents live near Harlingen, TX.

    An epiphany about grapefruit | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2009

  • Up to this point, I have had to slice all of the individual sectors with a knife which takes way too long especially when the anticipation of eating the grapefruit is too much to stand already.

    Archive 2008-02-01 The Wood To The Sand 2008

  • Up to this point, I have had to slice all of the individual sectors with a knife which takes way too long especially when the anticipation of eating the grapefruit is too much to stand already.

    Peace Corps Bulgaria: Three Parter The Wood To The Sand 2008

  • Grapefruit: Everyone knows the juiciest, largest and sweetest ruby red grapefruit comes from the Rio Grande Valley.

    Homesick Texan holiday gift guide 2007 | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2007

  • Grapefruit: Everyone knows the juiciest, largest and sweetest ruby red grapefruit comes from the Rio Grande Valley.

    Archive 2007-12-01 Homesick Texan 2007

  • Instead, I live in the pedestrian community of Ajijic where I pick my morning grapefruit from the garden tree every morning in season.

    Pozos 2005

  • Instead, I live in the pedestrian community of Ajijic where I pick my morning grapefruit from the garden tree every morning in season.

    Pozos 2005

  • Instead, I live in the pedestrian community of Ajijic where I pick my morning grapefruit from the garden tree every morning in season.

    Pozos 2005

Comments

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  • sionnach commented on the word grapefruit

    cross between a pomelo and an orange

    July 24, 2007

  • misterpolly commented on the word grapefruit

    What have grapes got to do with it?

    December 8, 2007

  • chained_bear commented on the word grapefruit

    They grow in bunches, like grapes, so someone called them grapefruit. Cool, huh?

    December 8, 2007

  • rolig commented on the word grapefruit

    I like the Slovene name for this fruit: grenivka (pronounced something like gren-IW-ka], which comes from the word grenak, meaning "bitter".

    December 16, 2007

  • chained_bear commented on the word grapefruit

    Seen here.

    July 27, 2009

  • hernesheir commented on the word grapefruit

    Betcha didn't know this is the name of a strain of medical marijuana!

    January 15, 2010