Kumquat
/ˈkʌm.kwɒt/noun
A small citrus fruit with sweet edible skin and tart flesh.
Did you know?Kumquat comes from Cantonese 金橘 (gām-gwāt), literally “golden orange,” a name that made the fruit sound auspicious long before English speakers ever tasted it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Sino-Tibetan / Early Chinese
Chinese
金橘
““golden orange” or “golden citrus””
Cantonese
Yue Chinese
gām gwāt
“the local spoken form meaning “golden orange””
19th Century
English
kumquat
“borrowed name for the small citrus fruit”
Modern English
English
kumquat
“a small edible-skinned citrus fruit”