# Why are lemons called lemons when they used to be called limes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609 "2005-07-28T17:28:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/21 "2005-07-29T17:49:18Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The _American Heritage Dictionary_ etymology for “lime” says this word came from “Arabic _lima, lim_, probably from _limun_, lemon” to explain why we use two different words in English. However, I checked several Arabic dictionaries, including _al-Munjid, al-Mawrid, An Advanced Learner’s Arabic-English Dictonary,_ and Hans Wehr’s _Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic_. None of them had this alleged word _lima, lim_, so I am skeptical of the _AHD_ claim. I did find in _al-Mawrid_ by Munir al-Ba’labakki an Arabic translation of “lime” as _laym_, but this seems to be one of those Lebanese neologisms coined by al-Ba‘labakki after the English word. Maybe because English has differentiated the two fruits, now other languages are trying to find different words for them. English-speaking tourists go to Arab countries and ask how to say “lemon” and “lime,” they’re told the same word. “Really? I can’t believe it, we have two different words for them. Aren’t they different fruits? How come only one word for both?” Etc. My _Chambers Dic. of Ety_, which is the best on English words IMHO, says under **lime** : > [@](#): > > 1683, borrowed from Spanish _lima_, from Arabic _lima=citrus fruit_, probably a back formation from limun=lemon, from Persian ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/22 "2005-07-29T18:31:47Z")
In Spanish the issue is more muddly. A “limón” is indeed the same thing we call a lemon or a lime, and one is yellow or not. But! Cans of 7-Up and Sprite always indicate “lima-limón” soda. Okay, so _lima_ must be lemon, right? But it’s not. At least it’s not what we call a lemon. a _Lima_ is something that looks identical to a lemon, is a little larger, and is sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/23 "2005-07-30T01:53:42Z")
Yeah, **Doobieous** when I was at work today I looked up lemon and lime in Encarta and read about the theory that lemons resulted from a hybrid of citron and lime. I wanted to post it but don’t have Dope access at work. Have you ever seen a citron? It looks just like an overgrown blobby lemon. Whereas the limes of South India, presumably close to the original cultivar, are a dull greenish-yellow color and are the size and shape of golf balls. It does seem likely that crossing the citron blob with the lime golf ball could result in the ovoid lemon as we know it. BTW, the species name for citron, _Citrus medica_, is not a reference to medicinal properties of the plant. It refers to the ancient land of Media in northern Iran, land of the Medes. The medick is another plant named for Media. Just as peaches were named for Persia. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/24 "2005-07-30T17:34:56Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > I don’t know if this is relevant, but I know that in Portuguese, for example, the word for lemon and lime is the same: _limão_. When they need to differentiate between the two, they say _limão verde_ (green lemon) or _limão amarelo_ (yellow lemon). In French they’re _citron_ and _citron vert_. I think the very regular fully-green limes and bright yellow lemons we see in a lot of western supermarkets are quite narrow examples of their breed. Over here (Dubai) there supermarkets always have these tiny, nearly spherical and smoother-skinned (less pitted) “Indian limes”. They’re cheap, and seem to taste quite similar to “normal” limes - which are several times more expensive. In Australia, I’ve picked lemons from trees in a couple of places. One tree had lemons that were really, really thick skinned. They didn’t seem to be as sour as other, more conventional lemons. Another tree, in a different place, had lemons that were far more spherical than normal, with thick, orange skins. I really could have sworn they were oranges, but for the fact that inside they were yellow and tasted solely of lemon. Again, they seemed a little milder/less sour than supermarket lemons. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/25 "2005-07-30T21:00:46Z")
> [@filmyak](#): > > Heh. Yeah. Limes are green. Go great with Coronas. Lemons are yellow. Not so good with Coronas. Around these here parts (the Spanish-speaking Caribbean) it is exactly the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/26 "2005-07-31T13:22:07Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Wait a minute…does this mean that lemons and limes aren’t the same fruit? I always assumed (like in portuguese, the name in french is the same for both, with the adjective “green” added to tell them apart) that they were the same fruit, one ripe and the other not. The French namefor lime is _lime_ or _limette_ (le Petit Larousse). These names are probably neologisms adapted from English since limes were little known until relatively recently. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/27 "2005-07-31T13:49:58Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > All those citrus things interbreed like nuts. View them as a continuum ranging from infra-lemon on one side to the ultra-orange on the other. In the middle is mess of confusing half-cases. Confusion is natural. Botanists are unsastified with that explanation. So they have a name for everything. \*\*Smiling Bandit \*\* you’re right. They are different species: The lemon tree is a species of its own: Citrus medica L. a. C. x limon. Synonyms: (C. medica x lime) (Citrus medica limonium). Citrons and rough lemons also belong to this species. The lime tree is a hybrid belonging to the same species as oranges, grapefruit, tangerine etc.: Citrus maxima a. C. aurantiifolia. Synonyms: (Citrus aurantiifolia hybr.) (C. limetta ) Source: Mabberley (Telopea 7: 167-172: A classification for edible citrus). (Hope you’re all familiar with botanical naming 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609/28 "2005-07-31T19:41:31Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > (Hope you’re all familiar with botanical naming 🙂 ) Uh, I think we can assume that not everyone here is - that would be pretty odd if we were, in fact. But that’s okay, I guess I don’t mind having no idea what you said. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lemons-called-lemons-when-they-used-to-be-called-limes/314609.md?page=1)