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citrus

SIT-ruhs · noun

GreekEtruscanLatinEnglish

Origin

From Latin citrus, meaning a citron tree or thuja, which probably passed through Etruscan from Ancient Greek kédros.

Journey

The word began as a name for a specific tree — the citron — before broadening in English to cover the wider family of tangy fruits like oranges and lemons.

Related words

It's a possible doublet of cedar, since both may trace back to the same Greek word kédros.

More words

From Etruscan

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