EuroLex/F/Lemon
- Original language: French
- Original form and meaning: limon - 1. lemon (Citrus limon); 2. [techn.] drawbar; 3. mud, [geol.] silt
(Note: If the status is not specifically indicated then the word is stylistically neutral and generally used; if earlier meaning and status equals current use the former may be expressed by writing "dito". Cf. also the project guidelines.)
| Language | Form | Date of Borrowing (and Obsolescence) | Current Meaning and Status | Earlier Meanings and Statusses | Source |
| Catalan | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Croatian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Czech | limeta | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Danish | lime | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Dutch | limoen | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| English | noun: lemon; adjective: lemon | fruit: 15c
US slang: 1909 slang meaning "a Quaalude": 1960s | ' noun: meaning 1;
and also: a) lemon yellow; b) informal: one that is unsatisfactory or defective; c) AmE slang: worthless thing d) slang: "a Quaalude" (sedative drug); adjective: e)lemon-yellow; f) made from lemons; g) tasting or smelling like lemons' | '1906, British slang: to hand someone a lemon was for "to pass off a sub-standard article as a good one". Or it simply may be a metaphor for something which "leaves a bad taste in one's mouth"' | http://www.etymonline.com |
| Estonian | laim | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Finnish | limetti | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| French | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Frisian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| German | Limone (also Limette or Limonelle) | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Hungarian | lime | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Irish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Italian | limone, limetta | ... | 'limone: meaning 1;
limetta: lime' | '...' | ... |
| Latvian | laims | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Lithuanian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Maltese | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Norwegian | lime | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Polish | limona | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Portuguese | limão, limoeiro; lima, limeira | ... | 'limão, limoeiro: meaning 1;
lima, limeira: lime' | '...' | ... |
| Rumantsch | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Slovak | limet | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
| Slovenian | limona, limoninZ | ... | 'meaning 1' | '...' | ... |
| Spanish | limón, limonero; limero, lima | ... | 'limón, limonero: meaning 1;
limero, lima: lime' | '...' | ... |
| Swedish | lime | ... | 'lime' | '...' | ... |
Annotations
[edit | edit source]Etymology: from OF limon "citrus fruit", from OProv, from Ar laimun or Pers limu(n), [...] cognate with Skt. nimbu "the lime".
Slang meaning "a Quaalude" is 1960s, from Lemmon, name of a pharmaceutical company that once manufactured the drug.
AmE slang "worthless thing", 1909, from lemon, perhaps via criminal slang sense of "a person who is a loser, a simpleton", which is perhaps from the notion of someone a sharper can "suck the juice out of".
To hand someone a lemon was British slang (1906) for "to pass off a sub-standard article as a good one". Or it simply may be a metaphor for something which "leaves a bad taste in one's mouth".
Source: http://www.etymonline.com
Information on Other Languages
[edit | edit source]meaning 1:
Czech: citrón, citrónový
Danish: citron
Dutch: citroen
Estonian: sidrun
Finnish: sitruuna
German: Zitrone
Hungarian: citrom
Latvian: citrons
Lithuanian: citrina
Norwegian: sitron
Polish: cytryna
Slovak: citrón, citrónový
Swedish: citron
meaning "lime":
Lithuanian: rūgščiavaisio citrinmedžio vaisius
Slovenian: citronka