Limon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Citrus fruit known for its tangy flavor and bright yellow color, commonly used in food and beverages
2. A small, typically yellow fruit from tropical and subtropical regions, prized for its acidic juice in culinary applications
3. A tart and juicy fruit that is often squeezed into dishes or drinks to add flavor and enhance freshness

Etymology: The spelling "limon" is an older form of "lemon", and the fruit it names has travelled a long way to reach English. Its ancestry runs back to Sanskrit "nimbū", a word for the lime, which passed through Persian and Arabic before Old French turned it into "lymon" for the citrus fruit. English took it in as "lymon" in the Middle Ages, and the spelling settled into "lemon" later. The word is a doublet of "lime", meaning that the two English words descend from the same source but reached the language by different routes. Both were borrowed from the same family of Eastern citrus names, and English ended up with two separate words for two closely related fruits.