kumquat

Etymology

It is borrowed from Cantonese 金橘 (gam1 gwat1, “golden orange”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from 金 (gam1, “gold, golden”) and 橘 (gwat1, “orange”).^[3][4][5] The OED, Klein and Partridge describe it as the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese name of the fruit, which Collins and Partridge give in its Mandarin form.^{[7][8][9][10]} Wiktionary also gives the spelling 金桔 (gam1 gwat1), and notes that loquat has the same second character.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The small orange-like citrus fruit of China: 1699, spelled camquit, in William Dampier's Voyages and Descriptions.^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The present spelling is first recorded in 1870,^[3] and cumquat is still a less common variant.^[5][10][4] From 1889 Australians also gave the name to a small native citrus fruit, Eremocitrus glauca, and its tree.^[7]

Timeline

• 1699 – the fruit, spelled camquit.^[7][3]
• 1870 – the spelling kumquat.^[3]
• 1889 – Australian, a small native citrus fruit or its tree.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small yellow or orange citrus fruit with a sweet rind and sour pulp, eaten whole or used candied and in preserves.^[5][10][7]
2. Any of several small trees or shrubs of the genus Fortunella, native to southern China, that bear this fruit.^[5][10][7]
3. (Australia) A small native citrus fruit, Eremocitrus glauca, or the tree that bears it.^[7]

Word family

• Nagami kumquat

Related words

• loquat

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins