pamplemousse

Forms

pamplemousse m (plural pamplemousses)^[1] Older forms pompelmoes (1665) and pompelmous (1666), still given as Dutch words, then pampelmous (1677); pamplemousse is found from about 1685.^[2][3] Masculine in use; the Académie and Littré gave it as feminine.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Dutch pompelmoes.^[2][7][3][8] The word first appears in French texts that present it as Dutch (1665, 1666), and the modern form, with a gallicized ending, follows almost at once.^[2][3]

The origin of the Dutch word is disputed.^[7][2][3] The TLFi, after Boulan and König, takes it as probably a compound of pompel (“big, swollen”) and limoes (“lemon”);^[7][4] Rey also allows pompoen (“pumpkin”) as the first element, and traces the second element to Portuguese limões, the plural of limão (“lemon”).^[3] The revised TLF notice instead follows De Vries in calling it probably of Tamil origin,^[2] and Littré had already derived it from Tamil.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first used as a French word in 1677, in L'Estra's account of a voyage to the East Indies, as pampelmous, for the fruit of a thorny tree of the Indian Ocean islands, eaten only candied or as jam.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

The word first named, as in Dutch, a large citrus fruit with little juice, Citrus maxima, and then the tree that bears it (1772).^[2][3] Rey notes that the fruit is not native to the Indies but was brought from Java to Ceylon in the 17th century under its Dutch name.^[3]

Botanists still use the word in this sense, but in everyday use pamplemousse has meant since 1946 the juicy, slightly sour fruit of Citrus paradisi, the pomelo or grapefruit, which the public confused with the first fruit;^[2][3] the tree that bears it is called so from 1960.^[2] The derivative pamplemoussier is recorded from 1894.^[7]

Timeline

• 1665 – Pompelmoes is cited in French as the Dutch name of the fruit.^[2]
• 1677 – Pampelmous is used as a French word in L'Estra's Relation.^[2]
• c. 1685 – The form pamplemousse appears in Bouvet's Voiage de Siam.^[2][7]
• 1772 – It names the tree, in a translation from English.^[2]
• 1894 – Pamplemoussier is recorded.^[7]
• 1946 – It is used for the fruit of Citrus paradisi, the grapefruit.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The pomelo (Citrus maxima), a thorny tree of the Indian Ocean islands, and its large fruit, which has little juice and is eaten candied or as jam.^[6][2][1]
2. The grapefruit: the large, round, yellow-skinned citrus fruit, juicy and slightly bitter, as in pamplemousse rose and jus de pamplemousse.^[6][1]

Word family

• pamplemoussier

Related words

• pomélo
• Dutch pompelmoes

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France