pumpkin
nounUK /ˈpʌmpkɪn/ · US /ˈpʌm(p).kɪn/
Etymology Alteration of pompion, pumpion (“pumpkin”) with the diminutive -kin, from Middle French pompon, from Latin pepō (whence English pepo), from Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn, “large melon”), from πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”), from πέπτω (péptō, “ripen”). The first attestation is from 1647. The alternative theory that it may be from Massachusett pôhpukun (“grows forth round”) is false. The automotive sense is by fancied resemblance.
A domesticated plant, in species Cucurbita pepo, similar in growth pattern, foliage, flower, and fruit to the squash or melon.
- Nevertheless, the comprehensive comparative analysis of pumpkin viromes across various geographic regions by NGS remains deficient.2023 August 23, Batchimeg Togoobat, Nan Wu, Xifeng Wang, Mengji Cao, Zhongtian Xu, “Viromic approach reveals differences in the composition, diversity and relative abundance of pumpkin viruses across main growing regions of China”, in Virology, volume 585, →DOI, pages 61-71:
The round yellow or orange fruit of this plant.
- There were pumpkins in Mombi’s corn-fields, lying golden red among the rows of green stalks; and these had been planted and carefully tended that the four-horned cow might eat of them in the winter time.1904, L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz:
The typical color of the ripe fruit of the pumpkin plant.
Australia Any of a number of cultivars from the genus Cucurbita; known in the US as winter squash.
US A term of endearment for someone small and cute.
- You must be daddy’s little pumpkin.1991, John Prine, Pat McLaughlin, “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin”, in The Missing Years (album):
Automotive, Transport, Vehicles Informal The housing for a differential, built into an axle of a vehicle; the housing and its contents.
- Derived terms
55 terms
ash pumpkin, Asian pumpkin, blumpkin, bushpumpkin, butternut pumpkin, cherpumple, Dickinson pumpkin, easy peasy pumpkin peasy, Japanese pumpkin, Jarrahdale pumpkin, pilgrim's pumpkin, pumpkin ash, pumpkin beetle, pumpkin bomb, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bug, pumpkin chunkin', pumpkin chunking, pumpkindom, pumpkineer, pumpkin-faced, pumpkin farm, pumpking, pumpkin head, pumpkin-headed, pumpkinification, pumpkinish, pumpkin jug, pumpkinless, pumpkinlike, pumpkin-on-a-stick, pumpkin pants, pumpkin patch, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin-pie spice, pumpkin porridge, pumpkinrita, pumpkinseed, pumpkin seed, pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin-spice latte, pumpkin spider, pumpkin suit, pumpkintini, Pumpkintown, pumpkinwise, pumpkiny, punkin, red pumpkin bug, river pumpkin, sea pumpkin, some pumpkins, turn into a pumpkin