A fruit which is not a grape!

It´s interesting how the names of the food put us in a certain perspective towards the food itself and towards how we imagine it. If a person says “grapefruit”, you probably think about a fruit which looks like a grape in shape, colour or even flavour. Unfortunately, you would be completely wrong. If we go back to its etymology it´s true that it is a compound formed by “grape” + “fruit”, but this food has nothing to do with grapes in appearance, so why this name?

The grapefruit is a hybrid between the pummelo and the sweet orange. One story about its origin is that the Captain Shaddock brought pummelo seeds to Jamaica and bred it, that´s the reason why it was known as the “shaddock” until the 19^th century. However, the name changed, turned into another one. Why?

There are two theories about the choice of this weird name: The first one and also the more usual is that in the 19^th century a naturalist noticed that the fruits appeared to grow in clusters, like grapes do, and decided that it would be appropriate to call them this way. 

The second one comes from Ciardi, an American etymologist, who stated that the pummelo´s botanical name is “Citrus grandi”, meaning great citrus and that “it would be natural to call the new pummelo variety a “greatfruit”. After saying this name a few times, it sounds like “grapefruit”, unless you make an effort to pronounce it in the right way. That could be the reason why it changed to that form. This last suggestion is merely speculative, there´s nothing that ensures, supports or attests it.

Now it´s up to you to decide which of these theories is more accurate or seems more reasonable for you.

Hope you enjoyed it!