Pummelo

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sizable citrus fruit resembling a grapefruit in appearance and texture, known for its sweet, juicy segments and thick, somewhat tough skin
2. This fruit, often classified within the citrus family, is distinguished by its large size and sweet, succulent flesh surrounded by a dense rind
3. A large citrus fruit with a thick rind and sweet, juicy sections inside

Etymology: The pomelo is the largest citrus fruit, and its name is one of those etymologies that scholars have never fully settled. One line of thinking holds that it may be a variant of the earlier "pampelmoes", a word that passed through French, Dutch and Portuguese and ultimately seems to mean something like "thick lemon". Another possibility is that the name is a compound of "pome", meaning apple, and "melon", though no such compound is actually recorded. The spelling "pummelo" is simply an alternative form of the same word, and some early spellings do seem to bear the imprint of "pome". A more striking candidate is that the name transcribes the Tamil "pampa ḷimācu", meaning "big citrus". If so, a South Indian description of the fruit would have travelled through European languages and come out the other side as an English name for it.