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I already have to deal with citrus names in different languages: pomelo in Spanish, toranja in Portuguese , grapefruit in English . This article added a bit to

I already have to deal with citrus names in different languages: pomelo in Spanish, toranja in Portuguese , grapefruit in English . This article added a bit to the confusion: pomelo comes from grapefruit?

simtel20 6y ago
From prior reading I've done, grapefruit was cultivated by crossing pomelo with smaller, more bitter citrus. Here, the wikipedia says it was with a sweet orange [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit
- pauloya 6y ago
  The article actually explains this quite well.
dzudndlf 6y ago
Although “pomelo” in Spanish translates (typically) to “grapefruit”, “pomelo” in English refers to another fruit, that is like a grapefruit. Turns out English is surprisingly rich when it comes to describing citrus. The citrus family hybridizes very easily, so every planted seed will give you a “new species” with a unique cultivar. English appears to have assigned more unique names to citrus than the other two languages I know (Italian and Spanish)
- mcv 6y ago
  Citrus names across languages are a mess. For example, citron is the English name for one of the base fruits, which after several hibridisation steps with other fruits results in the lemon. Dutch name for lemon? Citroen. In French it's citron. The French word for the English citron is cédrat. Sukade in Dutch. The Dutch for pomelo is pompelmoes, while the pomelo is a hybrid between the pompelmoes and the grapefruit, and is called shaddock in English according to the Dutch Wikipedia.
  - jdmichal 6y ago
    Mexican Spanish (might be a broader phenomenon) is another fun one. Limes are limónes and lemons are limas. So sopa de lima is chicken soup with lemons, not limes. However, this is how they map those terms to the varieties present in America. The actual lima is a citron x lemon variety that is not widely cultivated, and is maybe best substituted by Key limes. Which explains why the Mexican stores around me seem to always carry Key limes in addition to the Persian limes!
    - samatman 6y ago
      "true" limes (by which I mean, the Mexican limon is the species most often referred to by variations on "lime" in other places) have become fairly common in American groceries. Which is fortunate, they're tastier than the lime-lemon "Persian" lime hybrid, whose main virtue seems to be size. Key limes are the best though, I wish they would show up in my local grocery more often.
pvaldes 6y ago
Is complicated, there are TWO "grapefruits", not one. Pomelo and grapefruit is not exactly the same term but is used as synonym often in different languages.
brk 6y ago
Like a primary color (RBG), pomelo can be thought of like a primary citrus. Pomelo is a citrus fruit that has been mixed with other citrus fruits to make new varieties, like grapefruit.
wazoox 6y ago
And in French grapefruit is pamplemousse, and pomelo traditionnally refer to the pink grapefruit, which is actually a slight variant. Actual pomelos always come from China, they have a very thick rind (2 cm or more) and have a taste and texture of their own (they're very dry) which is quite pleasant. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomelo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomelo
masklinn 6y ago
> This article added a bit to the confusion: pomelo comes from grapefruit? Other way around. In english, the Pomelo is "Citrus maxima", one of the "ancestral" citrus varieties, which is very large with a very thick rind. The grapefruit is (believed to be) a hybrid of the pomelo and the regular (sweet) orange, which is itself a hybrid of some sort (a much removed descendant of pomelo and mandarin).

simtel20 6y ago

From prior reading I've done, grapefruit was cultivated by crossing pomelo with smaller, more bitter citrus. Here, the wikipedia says it was with a sweet orange [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit

pauloya 6y ago
The article actually explains this quite well.

dzudndlf 6y ago

Although “pomelo” in Spanish translates (typically) to “grapefruit”, “pomelo” in English refers to another fruit, that is like a grapefruit. Turns out English is surprisingly rich when it comes to describing citrus. The citrus family hybridizes very easily, so every planted seed will give you a “new species” with a unique cultivar. English appears to have assigned more unique names to citrus than the other two languages I know (Italian and Spanish)

mcv 6y ago
Citrus names across languages are a mess. For example, citron is the English name for one of the base fruits, which after several hibridisation steps with other fruits results in the lemon. Dutch name for lemon? Citroen. In French it's citron. The French word for the English citron is cédrat. Sukade in Dutch. The Dutch for pomelo is pompelmoes, while the pomelo is a hybrid between the pompelmoes and the grapefruit, and is called shaddock in English according to the Dutch Wikipedia.
- jdmichal 6y ago
  Mexican Spanish (might be a broader phenomenon) is another fun one. Limes are limónes and lemons are limas. So sopa de lima is chicken soup with lemons, not limes. However, this is how they map those terms to the varieties present in America. The actual lima is a citron x lemon variety that is not widely cultivated, and is maybe best substituted by Key limes. Which explains why the Mexican stores around me seem to always carry Key limes in addition to the Persian limes!
  - samatman 6y ago
    "true" limes (by which I mean, the Mexican limon is the species most often referred to by variations on "lime" in other places) have become fairly common in American groceries. Which is fortunate, they're tastier than the lime-lemon "Persian" lime hybrid, whose main virtue seems to be size. Key limes are the best though, I wish they would show up in my local grocery more often.

pvaldes 6y ago

Is complicated, there are TWO "grapefruits", not one. Pomelo and grapefruit is not exactly the same term but is used as synonym often in different languages.

brk 6y ago

Like a primary color (RBG), pomelo can be thought of like a primary citrus. Pomelo is a citrus fruit that has been mixed with other citrus fruits to make new varieties, like grapefruit.

wazoox 6y ago

And in French grapefruit is pamplemousse, and pomelo traditionnally refer to the pink grapefruit, which is actually a slight variant. Actual pomelos always come from China, they have a very thick rind (2 cm or more) and have a taste and texture of their own (they're very dry) which is quite pleasant. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomelo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomelo

masklinn 6y ago

> This article added a bit to the confusion: pomelo comes from grapefruit? Other way around. In english, the Pomelo is "Citrus maxima", one of the "ancestral" citrus varieties, which is very large with a very thick rind. The grapefruit is (believed to be) a hybrid of the pomelo and the regular (sweet) orange, which is itself a hybrid of some sort (a much removed descendant of pomelo and mandarin).