pumpkin

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
pumpkins
"seeds of pumpkin"

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French pompon, from Latin pepō, from Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn, “large melon”), from πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”), from πέπτω (péptō, “ripen”). Suffixed with the now obsolete -kin. Doublet of pepo.

The alternative theory that it may be from the Wôpanâak word pôhpukun (“grows forth round”) is false.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: pŭmpʹkin, IPA(key): /ˈpʌmpkɪn/
  • Hyphenation: pump‧kin
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌmpkɪn

Noun[edit]

pumpkin (plural pumpkins)

  1. A domesticated plant, in species Cucurbita pepo, similar in growth pattern, foliage, flower, and fruit to the squash or melon.
  2. The round yellow or orange fruit of this plant.
    • 1904, L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz‎[2]:
      There were pumpkins in Mombi’s corn-fields, lying golden red among the rows of green stalks; and these had been planted and carefully tended that the four-horned cow might eat of them in the winter time.
  3. (uncountable) The color of the fruit of the pumpkin plant.
    pumpkin:  
  4. (Australia) Any of a number of cultivars from the genus Cucurbita; known in the US as winter squash.
  5. (US) A term of endearment for someone small and cute.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Filip Larsson (November 12, 2021), “Debunking a myth by chunking the etymology of pumpkin”, in Lund Language Diversity Forum – Lund University‎[1]
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=pumpkin&oldid=73220574"