The citron (Citrus medica) is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick, coarse rind. It resembles a lemon, but is larger. It is one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed through natural hybrid speciation or artificial hybridization. Though citron cultivars take on a wide variety of physical forms, they are all closely related genetically. It is used in Asian and Mediterranean cuisine, traditional medicines, perfume, and religious rituals and offerings. Hybrids of citrons with other citrus are commercially more prominent, most notably lemons and many limes, which were created using citrons.
Etymology
The fruit's name is derived from the Latin citrus, which is also the origin of the genus name. The binomial name Citrus medica derives from Media, the kingdom of the Medes, where it was believed to originate (but see "Origin and distribution" below).
A source of confusion is that 'citron' in French and English are false friends, as the French word 'citron' refers to what in English is a lemon; whereas the French word for the citron is 'cédrat'. Into the 16th century, the English term citron included the lemon and perhaps the lime as well. Other languages that use variants of citron to refer to the lemon include Armenian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, German, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Esperanto, Polish and the Scandinavian languages.
In Italian it is known as cedro, the same name used also to indicate the coniferous tree cedar. Similarly, in Latin, citrus, or thyine wood referred to the wood of a North African cypress, Tetraclinis articulata.
In Indo-Iranian languages, it is called toranj, as against naranj ('bitter orange'). Both names were borrowed into Arabic and introduced into Spain and Portugal after their occupation by Muslims in AD 711, whence the latter became the source of the name orange through rebracketing (and the former of 'toronja' and 'toranja', which today describe the grapefruit in Spanish and...
