grapefruit

Etymology

It is formed from English grape + fruit.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The name is usually explained by the way the fruit grows in clusters, like grapes;^{[2][7][8][5][9]} Barnhart and Etymonline give this only as a possibility,^[4][3] and Etymonline also reports the claim that it was named for its taste, and suggests it may have been a marketing name.^[3] Dictionary.com likewise explains it by the resemblance of its clusters to those of grapes.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fruit of the tree now called Citrus paradisi: 1814, in John Lunan's Hortus Jamaicensis.^[2][3][4] Dictionary.com dates the word more broadly to 1805–15.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The fruit itself was known long before the name: it appears in Hans Sloane's 1693 catalogue of Jamaican plants, and probably arose in Jamaica as a chance hybrid of other cultivated citrus trees.^[3] It went by other names, such as pomelo and shaddock, before grapefruit prevailed.^[3] Merriam-Webster still records pomelo as another name for it.^[8] Barnhart notes that the fruit was not known in North America until the 1700s and was not planted in the United States until about 1820, though it was known in France as French pamplemousse.^[4] At first it was grown chiefly as an ornamental plant and was not much eaten until the late 19th century.^[3] The word is also used for the tree that bears the fruit.^[5][9][8] In American slang, grapefruits has meant a woman's breasts since the late 1960s.^[11]

Timeline

• 1814 – grapefruit, the fruit of Citrus paradisi.^[2][3][8]
• 1967–68 – US slang grapefruits, a woman's breasts.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large round citrus fruit with a yellow rind and juicy, rather sour and bitter pulp, pale yellow to pink in colour: She had half a grapefruit for breakfast.^[12][8][2]
2. The subtropical evergreen tree, Citrus paradisi, that bears this fruit.^[12][8][9]

Word family

• Grapefruit League

Related words

• grape
• fruit
• pomelo
• shaddock

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins