Wiktionary

pumpkin

English

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Pumpkins
 
Seeds of pumpkin
 
The pumpkin is at the center of this illustration depicting a rear axle assembly from a 1930s British motor car.

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Alteration of pompion, pumpion (“pumpkin”) with the diminutive -kin, from Middle French pompon, from Latin pepō (whence English pepo), from Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn, “large melon”), from πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”), from πέπτω (péptō, “ripen”).[1] The first attestation is from 1647.[2]

The alternative theory that it may be from Massachusett pôhpukun (“grows forth round”) is false.[3]

The automotive sense is by fancied resemblance.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pumpkin (countable and uncountable, plural pumpkins)

  2. A domesticated plant, in species Cucurbita pepo, similar in growth pattern, foliage, flower, and fruit to the squash or melon.
    • 2023 August, Batchimeg Togoobat, Nan Wu, Xifeng Wang, Mengji Cao, Zhongtian Xu, “Viromic approach reveals differences in the composition, diversity and relative abundance of pumpkin viruses across main growing regions of China”, in Virology, volume 585, →DOI, pages 61-71:
      Nevertheless, the comprehensive comparative analysis of pumpkin viromes across various geographic regions by NGS remains deficient.
  3. The round yellow or orange fruit of this plant.
    • 1904, L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz‎[2]:
      There were pumpkins in Mombi’s corn-fields, lying golden red among the rows of green stalks; and these had been planted and carefully tended that the four-horned cow might eat of them in the winter time.
  4. (uncountable) The typical color of the ripe fruit of the pumpkin plant.
    pumpkin:  
  5. (Australia) Any of a number of cultivars from the genus Cucurbita; known in the US as winter squash.
  6. (US) A term of endearment for someone small and cute.
  7. (informal, automotive) The housing for a differential, built into an axle of a vehicle; the housing and its contents.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Tok Pisin: pamkin
  • → Big Nambas: pavkin
  • → Irish: puimcín
  • → Japanese: パンプキン (panpukin)
  • → Marshallese: baan̄ke
  • → Scottish Gaelic: puimcean

Translations

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Translations to be checked

See also

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References

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  1. ^ “pumpkin, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ Chappell, Bill (8 October 2025), “Pumpkin: What's the word's origin and history? : NPR”, in Word of the Week‎[1], NPR, retrieved 8 October 2025
  3. ^ Filip Larsson (12 November 2021), “Debunking a myth by chunking the etymology of pumpkin”, in Lund Language Diversity Forum – Lund University
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