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. 100. The Citron is like in nature to the Limmon.
1655. Moufet & Bennet, Health’s 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. Dixon, Two Queens, II. VII. vii. 47. The Alhambra gardens, where the citron is in bloom and fruit the whole year round.
3. The pale yellow or greenish yellow color of the rind of a citron (or lemon); = CITRINE B. 1.
1610. B. Jonson, Alch., II. ii. Your generall colours … Of the pale citron, [etc.].
1855. Smedley, Occult Sc., 308. White mixed with 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 (Bohemian topaz, occidental topaz, yellow quartz, Scotch pebble).
7. attrib. and Comb., as citron bower, grove, pudding, shadow, tree; citron-colo(u)red, -hued, -yellow, adjs.; † citron-water, a liquor made from brandy flavored 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.
1830. Tennyson, Recollect. Arab. Nts., ii. My shallop … clove The *citron-shadows in the blue.
1712. trans. 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.
1712–4. 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. trans. 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.
Citron, obs. form of CITHERN.
