pumpkin Hear it!

pumpkin definition

pump·kin (pump′kin, pum′-; nonstandard puŋ′-)

noun

  1. a large, round, orange-yellow, edible fruit with many seeds
  2. the vine (Cucurbita pepo) of the gourd family on which it grows
  3. Brit. any of several varieties of squash (Cucurbita moschata and C. maxima)

Etymology: altered (infl. by -kin) < pumpion < MFr pompon < L pepo < Gr pepōn, lit., cooked by the sun, ripe (hence a gourd not eaten until ripe), akin to peptein: see pepsin

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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