ENGLISH
REFERENCE

grapefruit

n. C / U
B1 Intermediate US //ˈɡɹeɪpˌfɹut// UK //ɡɹˈeɪpfɹuːt// grape·fruit Vulgar

n. a large, round fruit that is similar to an orange but has a sour and slightly bitter taste. It usually has yellow skin and the inside can be yellow, pink, or red.

n. a large, globose citrus fruit with a bitter, acidic flavour profile. Refers to the fruit of the tree Citrus × paradisi, which is a hybrid of the pomelo and the sweet orange.


SIMPLE

I usually eat half a grapefruit for breakfast.

CONTEXTUAL

The chef added segments of pink grapefruit to the salad to balance the richness of the avocado.

COMPLEX

While grapefruit is a popular source of vitamin C, certain compounds within the fruit can interfere with the metabolism of specific medications by inhibiting intestinal enzymes.

Origin

Widely assumed to be a marketing term from grape + fruit, an allusion to the supposed grapelike clusters of fruit on the tree, early 19th c. Ciardi proposes another theory: one of the pomelo's botanical names is Citrus grandis, meaning "great citrus [fruit]", due to the size of its fruit. A new pomelo variety might first have been called a "greatfruit" (see greatfruit), and through the process of assimilation, the word came to be pronounced "grapefruit".

Usage

Uncountable when referring to the fruit as a food category or flavour; countable when referring to the individual fruits.

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