limão

See also: lìmào and lǐmào

Portuguese

A lemon (left) and a lime. (right)

Etymology

From Andalusian Arabic لَيْمُون, from Arabic لَيْمُون (laymūn), from Persian لیمو (limu), لیمون (limun).

Pronunciation

• (Portugal, Brazil) IPA^(key): /liˈmɐ̃w̃/
• Hyphenation: li‧mão

Noun

limão m (plural limões)

1. lemon (citrus fruit)
2. (Brazil) lime (citrus fruit)
3. (Southern Brazil) lemandarin, rangpur

Usage notes

• In Brazil, unless otherwise specified, the variants key lime (Citrus × latifolia) and persian lime (Citrus × aurantiifolia) are assumed. In southern regions, lemandarin (Citrus × limonia) may be assumed as well.
• Brazilians also consider a lemon (Citrus limon) to be a limão, but of a very specific kind. Therefore, it won't come their mind at first, if not enough context is given.
• Non-Brazilians will enthusiastically refuse to call a lime a limão.
• Consider using the synonym limão-siciliano to unambiguously refer to a lemon across the Portuguese-speaking world. Use lima, for a lime.

Synonyms

• (lemon): limão-siciliano
• (lime): lima

Related terms

• limoeiro

Descendants

• Swahili: limau

• Malay: limau
  • Indonesian: limau

Further reading

• limão on the Portuguese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^pt