▪ I. citron
(ˈsɪtrən)
Also 5 citren, 6 citrone, cidron, 6–7 cytron, 7 citrion, cittron.
[a. F. citron citron, lemon, ad. It. citrone, cedrone augmentative of L. type *citrum; cf. L. citrus citron-tree, citreum (mālum) citron; also Gr. κίτρον citron: see citrus.]
1. An ovate acid juicy tree-fruit with a pale yellow rind. Formerly the name included the lemon, and perhaps the lime, as well as the fruit to which it is now restricted, which is larger, less acid, and has a thicker rind than the lemon.
(In Fr. this Fruit is called cédrat; while citron and limon are varieties of the lemon, It. limone.)
| a. 1530 Palsgr. 205/2 Citron frute, citron. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. ii. ix. (Arb.) 131 The kynde of citrons which are commonly cauled limones. |
| b. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 91 The Citron, called also the Median, the Persian, and the Assirian Apple. 1591 Percyvall Sp. Dict., Cidral, a tree of cidrons. 1605 Timme Quersit. i. xiii. 62 Oranges, citrons, and lemons. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Adam, The..Assyrian Citron, (round, and twice as big, as a big Orange). 1620 Venner Via Recta vi. 96 The Citron is like in nature to the Lymon. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health Improv. 201 As ripe Citrons in Spaine do nourish Spaniards, so preserved Citrons may no less nourish us. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 179 The citron itself is not eaten, but the thick rind is much used as a preserve. |
2. The tree
Citrus Mēdica, which bears this fruit. (Formerly including the Lemon
C. Limonum, and Sweet Lime
C. Limetta, which most botanists consider to be established varieties that have arisen under cultivation from the typical species.)
The citron tree is of oriental origin, and was brought to Rome from Media about the beginning of the Christian era, though according to Gallesio it was not established there before the 3rd or 4th c. It is now widely cultivated in warm temperate and sub-tropical regions.
| 1530 Palsgr. 205/2 Citron tree, citronnier. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 227 In the Conservatory..Citron, Vernal Cyclamen, etc. 1850 W. Irving Mahomet's Success. v. (1853) 20 The Citron..perfumes the air for many miles round the city. 1873–4 Dixon Two Queens vii. vii, Where the citron is in bloom and fruit the whole year round. |
3. The pale yellow or greenish yellow colour of the rind of a citron (or lemon);
= citrine B. 1. Also as
adj. = citron-coloured.
| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. ii, Your generall colours..Of the pale citron, etc. 1855 Smedley Occult Sc. 308 White mixed with citron. 1924 A. D. Sedgwick Little French Girl i. v. 40 The old tapestry, grey and green and citron. |
† 4. The wood of the African Citrus-tree of the ancients: see
citrus 2. Also
attrib. Obs.| 1656 Cowley Davideis iii. Wks. 1710 II. 401 Beds of Lybian Citron. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 115 Gorgeous feasts On Cittron tables or Atlantic stone. 1740 Dyer Ruins Rome 492 The citron board, the bowl emboss'd with gems. |
† 5. Short for
citron-water: see 7.
Obs.| 1711 Steele Spect. No. 79 ¶8 A Glass of Wine, or a Drachm of Citron. 1735 Pope Ep. Lady 64 Now drinking citron with his Grace and Chartres. |
| attrib. 1718 Freethinker No. 70. 103 She retires to her Citron Bottle, under the pretence of devotion. |
6. Min. = citrine B. 2.
| 1838 Feuchtwanger Gems (1859) 261 Citron..yellow quartz, Scotch pebble. |
7. attrib. and
Comb., as
citron bower,
citron grove,
citron pudding,
citron shadow,
citron tree;
citron-coloured,
citron-hued,
citron-scented,
citron-yellow,
adjs.;
† citron-water, a liquor made from brandy flavoured with citron- or lemon-peel;
citron-wood, the wood of the citron-tree; also, that of the African
Citrus of the ancients (see 4); and of a West Indian tree, considered by Guibourt to be
Xanthoxylon emarginatum.
| 1814 Southey Roderick v, Many a sunny hamlet.. Whose *citron bowers were once the abode of peace. |
| 1658 J. Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 926 The *citron coloured greater Wasps. |
| 1667 Milton P.L. v. 22 How blows the *Citron Grove. |
| 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxxiv, Men..longe and lene Consumpt, sklendre, browne and *citren hewed. |
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 177 Little *Citron Puddings. |
| 1896 T. W. Sanders Encyl. Gardening (ed. 2) 68 *Citron-scented Orchid (Odontoglossum citrosmum). 1924 E. Sitwell Sleeping Beauty xvii. 67 The Pleiades' citron-scented poems. |
| 1830 Tennyson Recoll. Arab. Nts. ii, My shallop..clove The *citron-shadows in the blue. |
| 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 204 Of a *Citron Smell. |
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 49 b, The *Citron tre..bryngeth furth fruite all tymes of the yeare. |
| 1712–14 Pope Rape Lock iv. 69 [Could] Like *Citron-waters matrons' cheeks inflame. 1750 Coventry Pompey Litt. ii. vi. (1785) 62/1 The lady..took refuge in citron waters. |
| 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 61 B, The *Citron-Wood, which the Americans call Candle-Wood, because it gives a Lustre or Brightness in cutting, and serves them for Lights; is the Trunk of a large thick Tree, that grows very common in the Leeward Islands. c 1878 Oxford Bible-Helps 123 The ‘thyine-wood’ of Rev. xviii. 12 was called citron-wood by the Romans. |
▪ II. citron obs. form of
cithern.