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The etymology of the Portugese "marmelo" is clear, from Latin "melimelum", itself from the Greek "μελίμηλον", meaning "sweet apple". The product was famous, so

The etymology of the Portugese "marmelo" is clear, from Latin "melimelum", itself from the Greek "μελίμηλον", meaning "sweet apple". The product was famous, so the word was borrowed to sell orange paste, later orange jam. I already had a glimpse of the story thanks to a chance reading of the etymology of the French "marmelade", but I enjoyed reading the whole story. https://www.littre.org/definition/marmelade https://www.littre.org/definition/marmelade (~1875) / https://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/marmelade https://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/marmelade (~1980)

portuga 7y ago
> meaning "sweet apple" Funny thing is it's not sweet at all, more like a very bitter apple.
Jun8 7y ago
For additional information: LS entry for μῆλον http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.46:7:187.LSJ http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?... and μελῐμηλον http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.45:9:191.LSJ http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?...