Citrus is, in last consequence, derived from Greek
kedromelon [κεδρομῆλον]
apple of cedar
(Greek melon [μῆλον]
is cognate to Latin malum apple
);
this name, however, did not signify lemon, but citron
whose cultivation in Egypt is reported by Greek travellers. The
Romans, then, shortened the Greek name to citrus.
Names for lemon in a large number of European tongues derive from Latin
citrus, e. g., German Zitrone,
French citron, Finnish sitruuna,
Latvian citrons, Czech citrón,
Polish cytryna, Hungarian citrom,
Yiddish zitstrin [זיצטרין] and
Armenian gidron [կիտրոն],
all of which mean lemon
. Some languages have similar names for the
more ancient fruit, citron, which should not be confused with lemon:
Croatian četrun, Polish cytron,
French cédrat, Italian cedro,
Russian tsedrat [цедрат]
and Greek kitro [κίτρο].
English lemon, and a number of other names for that fruit, derive from
Arabic al-limun [الليمون] lemon
;
see lime for more.
The botanical species epithet of citron, medicus, alludes to
the Medes, a Persian tribe, who are supposed to have introduced
citron to the Mediterranean countries. This is modelled on the Classical Greek name of citron,
melea he Medike [μηλέα ἡ Μηδική] Median apple
(also melea he Persike [μηλέα ἡ Περσική] Persian apple
)
for citron. There is no etymological connection to medicine (the Linnean species epithet for that would have been medicinalis), which derives from the same root as measure and meter.
Citrus medica: Citron fruit
Citron fruit (ornamental)
www.desert-tropicals.com
Citrus medica ‘Sarcodactylus’: Buddha’s hand
Buddha’s hands, an ornamental citron variety
www.zitrusgaertnerei.de
Citrus medica: Edible citron
Edible citron
http://www.isolotto.com
The somewhat puzzeling German name Zitronatzitrone citron
is a simple tatpurusha compound
(primary word Zitrone lemon
, determinative element
Zitronat succade
) meaning
lemon whose peel is used for making succade
; the same holds for
Hungarian cédrátcitrom, and also Finnish
sukaatti seems to be derived from succade.
In Dutch, citron is called muskuscitroen musky lemon
;
see nutmeg on the word musk
.
I was not able to find a definitive etymology for the term succade
candied citron peel
. I guess that it is derived from Hebrew
sukkot or sukoth [סוכות]
which refers to the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles
, a religious rite
involving, among others,
citron fruit (etrog [אתרוג])
and myrtle branches (hadas [הדס]).
Some sources, however, trace the name back to Latin succus juice
.
A third possibility is to relate succade to sugar or a
cognate (e. g., French sucre).
Names of sugar in almost all European tongues come, via Old Italian
zucchero, Late Latin saccharum,
Greek sakcharon [σάκχαρον]
and Persian shakar (today Farsi shakar [شکر])
from Sanskrit sharkara [शर्करा] sugar
,
which originally meant pebbles
or grit
and was also used to
denote crystallized sugar, which was a genuine Indian invention.
In India, lemon is not much known, as the tropcal climate favours lime as the sour citrus fruit
. Yet, in the
Himalaya, true lemon is grown together with lime. The two fruits are both called nimbu in Hindi; if desired, a distinction can be made
between bara nimbu [बड़ा निंबू] big nimbu
(lemon) and
chota nimbu [छोटा निंबू] small nimbu
(lime).
Lemon-like fruits are also found in North-Eastern India: In the Khasi and Garo Hills, and in the states bordering Burma.
Selected Links
Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Zedratzitrone (rezkonv.de via archive.org)
Nature One Health: Lemon
chemikalienlexikon.de: Citral
Transport Information Service: Lemons
Citrus Online Buch: Die Zitrone
Citrus Online Buch: Die Zedrate
Citron (purdue.edu)
Lemon (purdue.edu)
Sorting Citrus names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au)
Recipe: Avgolemono Sauce [αυγολέμονο] (globalgourmet.com)
Recipe: Avgolemono Soup [αυγολέμονο] (www.hevanet.com)
Recipe: Avgolemono Soup [αυγολέμονο] (www.cookingcache.com)
Rezept: Ritschert (www.silvana.at)
Rezept: Ritschert (ichkoche.at)
Rezept: Topfenpalatschinken (ichkoche.at)
Rezept: Ritschert (kundendienst.orf.at)
Recipe: Tagliolini al Limone (recipes.chef2chef.net)
Recipe: Linguine al Tonno, Limone e Rughetta (cucinacasalinga.com)
Recipe: Linguine and lemon sauce (deliciousitaly.com)
Recipe: Homemade candied orange or lemon peel (www.vinetreeorchards.com)
Citrus limon: Lemon flower and fruits
Lemon flower and fruits
www.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de
Citrus limon: Himalayan lemon fruit
Lemon growing in the Indian Himalayas
Lemons were brought to Europe by the Crusades; medieval or
even older sources referring to lemons always mean the very aromatic, but
juice-free citron, which was, at different times, recognized as the biblical
apple (
sour, indeed!; actually, the fruit meant in the Bible was most
probably
pomegranate, which is most common in the
Middle East) or the Apples of the Hesperides. Today, citron
has still retained some cultic importance in the Jewish religion, where it is
seen as s symbol of fertility; see
pomegranate
about citron’s (possible) appearance in the Old Testament.
In antiquity, citron was more grown as an ornamental and medicine than for
food usage; Romans preferred vinegar and occasionally sumac berries to set sour accents in their cuisine
(see silphion for details). To my knowledge, not
even citron peel has been used culinarily in Rome, but the Apicius
suggests wine flavoured with citrus leaves as a surrogate for
rose wine (see silphion).
Citrus limon: Himalayan lemon fruit
Lemon growing in the Indian Himalayas
The contemporary culinary importance of citron is due to its thick peel,
which is first cured in salt water and then candied. The product obtained,
named inaccurately candied lemon peel or succade, is often
used to flavour
cakes; in Central Europe, it is often employed for the numerous cakes and
cookies served at Christmas time. Besides the culinary types, there are
also ornamental breeds of citron grown for their large, aromatic and often
spectacularly shaped fruits. An example is the cultivar known as
cf. sarcodactylus, which is known as
Buddha’s hands
(calqued on Chinese fo shou gan [佛手柑] Buddha hand tangerine
):
In this particular cultivar, the citron
wedges
are joined only at the base of the fruit;
at the opposite end, the wedges separate and form a bizarre structure
resembling fingers sprouting from a hand (or a polytentacled cephalopod).
Citrus limon: Lemon plant
Lemon plant with flowers and fruits
Lemon, on the other side, is mostly valued for its juice. Lemon juice displays
a unique, intensive acidity which is at the same time tart and fruity. There is
hardly one single cuisine in the world that does not make use of lemon juice
(or the similar, but more aromatic lime juice).
Lemon juice is especially popular in the East Mediterranean, e. g., in Lebanese
tabbouleh (see parsley), and also
in Italy. See also mango for more information on
sour spices.