bitter melon

See also: bittermelon

English

Alternative forms

• bittermelon

Etymology

Calque from Chinese 苦瓜 (kǔguā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪtəɹ ˈmɛlən/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

bitter melon (plural bitter melons)

1. A vine, Momordica charantia, which produces a bitter yet edible fruit.
   • 1896, The World and Its People, Book 7, Silver, Burdett, page 430:

     Bees often convey the pollen from the blossoms of a bitter melon vine to those of a sweet variety and completely change the character and flavor of its fruit.

2. The fruit of the bitter melon vine.
3. The colocynth, Citrullus colocynthis.
4. (Australia) A similar fruit-bearing vine, Citrullus lanatus (Citroides Group).

Synonyms

• balsam pear, bitter gourd, karela, cerasee (Jamaica)

Translations

plant Momordica charantia

• Arabic: قَاوُون m (qāwūn)
• Basque: meloi mikatz
• Burmese: ကြက်ဟင်းခါးပင် (krakhang:hka:pang)
• Catalan: cogombre tropical
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 苦瓜 (zh) (kǔguā)

• Dutch: sopropo (nl)
• Estonian: karella-kibekurk
• Finnish: karvaskurkku (fi)
• German: Bittermelone f, Bittergurke f, Balsambirne f, Karela f
• Greek: πικρό πεπόνι n (pikró pepóni)
• Indonesian: pare (id), paria (id)
• Japanese: 蔓茘枝 (ja) (tsuru reishi), 苦瓜 (ja) (nigauri)
• Malayalam: പാവൽ (ml) (pāval)
• Muyang: milimbek
• Polish: przepękla ogórkowata f, balsamka ogórkowata f
• Portuguese: melão-de-são-caetano m
• Spanish: melón amargo
• Sranan Tongo: sopropo
• Swedish: bittergurka c
• Tagalog: ampalaya (tl)
• Tamil: பாகற்காய் (ta) (pākaṟkāy)
• Telugu: కాకర (te) (kākara)
• Turkish: kudret narı (tr)
• Twi Akan: please add this translation if you can

fruit of Momordica charantia

• Arabic: قَاوُون m (qāwūn)
• Assamese: কেৰেলা (kerela)
• Bengali: করলা (bn) (korla), উচ্ছা (bn) (uccha), উচ্ছে (bn) (ucche)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: marigoso (bcl)

• Burmese: ကြက်ဟင်းခါးသီး (krakhang:hka:si:)
• Cebuano: paliya
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 涼瓜 / 凉瓜 (loeng⁴ gwaa¹), 苦瓜 (fu² gwaa¹)

  Hokkien: 苦瓜 (zh-min-nan) (khó͘-koe), 防羊言 (hông-iûⁿ-giân), 紅楊 / 红杨 (âng-iûⁿ)

  Mandarin: 苦瓜 (zh) (kǔguā)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: sopropo (nl)
• Estonian: karella-kibekurk
• Finnish: karvaskurkku (fi)
• French: margose (fr) f, momordique (fr) f, pomme de merveille (fr) f, melon amer m, poire balsamique (fr) f
• German: Bittermelone f, Bittergurke f, Balsambirne f, Karela f
• Greek: πικρό πεπόνι n (pikró pepóni)
• Gujarati: કારેલું (kārelũ)
• Hindi: करेला (hi) (karelā)
• Ilocano: pariya
• Indonesian: pare (id), paria (id)
• Japanese: 蔓茘枝 (ja), ツルレイシ (ja) (tsurureishi), 苦瓜 (ja), ニガウリ (nigauri)
• Kannada: ಹಾಗಲಕಾಯಿ (kn) (hāgalakāyi)
• Kapampangan: apalya, apalia
• Kashmiri: کَریلہٕ (karēlụ)
• Khmer: ម្រះ (km) (mrĕəh)
• Konkani: काराते (kārāte)
• Korean: 여주 (yeoju)
• Lao: ຟັກຂົມ (fak khom)
• Maguindanao: paliya
• Malay: tembikai pahit, peria (ms)
• Malayalam: പാവയ്ക്ക (pāvaykka), കയ്പക്ക (kaypakka)
• Manchu: ᡤᠠᡥᠠ
  ᠣᡨ᠋ᠣᠨ (gaha oton)
• Marathi: कारली (kārlī)
• Masbatenyo: ampalaya
• Odia: please add this translation if you can
• Okinawan: ごーやー (gōyā)
• Polish: przepękla ogórkowata f, balsamka ogórkowata f
• Portuguese: melão-de-são-caetano m
• Punjabi: ਕਰੇਲਾ (karelā)
• Russian: кита́йская го́рькая ты́ква f (kitájskaja górʹkaja týkva), момо́рдика (ru) f (momórdika), каре́ла f (karéla)
• Sanskrit: कारवेल्ल (sa) (kāravella)
• Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
• Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: melón amargo m
• Sranan Tongo: sopropo
• Swedish: bittergurka c
• Tagalog: ampalaya (tl)
• Tamil: பாகற்காய் (ta) (pākaṟkāy)
• Telugu: కాకరకాయ (te) (kākarakāya)
• Thai: มะระ (th) (má-rá)
• Tulu: ಕಂಚಲ (tcy) (kañcala)
• Turkish: kudret narı (tr)
• Twi Akan: please add this translation if you can
• Urdu: کریلا (karelā)
• Vietnamese: khổ qua (vi) (Southern), mướp đắng (vi) (Northern)
• Zhuang: lwghaemz