grapefruit

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) The tree of the species Citrus paradisi, a hybrid of Citrus maxima and sweet orange.
2. (countable, uncountable) The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree.
3. (countable, plural-normally, uncountable, vulgar) Large breasts; by extension, a woman with large breasts.

Synonyms

pomelo

Citrus paradisi

citrus

shaddock

grape-fruit

pummelo

Citrus

sweet orange

marsh grapefruit

citron

toronja

citrus fruit

lemon

🍋

lime

oblate

Translations

pamplemousse

pompelmo

Grapefruit

Pampelmuse

pomelo

grapefruit

toronja

pompelmoes

toranja

greyfurt

toronja

aranja

pomélo

pomelo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡɹeɪpfɹuːt/

Etymology

Widely assumed to be a marketing term from grape + fruit, an allusion to the supposed grapelike clusters of fruit on the tree, early 19th c. Ciardi proposes another theory: one of the pomelo's botanical names is Citrus grandis, meaning "great citrus [fruit]", due to the size of its fruit. A new pomelo variety might first have been called a "greatfruit" (see greatfruit), and through the process of assimilation, the word came to be pronounced "grapefruit".