hesperidium

[ hes-puh-rid-ee-uhm ]

noun

, Botany.

, plural hes·per·id·i·a [hes-p, uh, -, rid, -ee-, uh].

1. the fruit of a citrus plant, as an orange.

hesperidium

/ ˌhɛspəˈrɪdɪəm /

noun

1. botany the fruit of citrus plants, in which the flesh consists of fluid-filled hairs and is protected by a tough rind

Other Words From

• hes·per·i·date [he-, sper, -i-deyt], hesper·ide·ous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hesperidium¹

First recorded 1865–70; from New Latin, from hesperid-, a combining form used in botany meaning “derived from citrus fruit” + -ium ( def ). Hesperid- derives from Latin Hesperides, from Greek Hesperídes (the plural of the peculiar feminine adjective hesperís, equivalent to hespérios “western”), denoting the daughters of Evening who guarded the golden apples, the garden where these golden apples grew, and the island where the garden was ( Islands of the Blessed ( def ) ). It is uncertain whether the golden apples were apples or a kind of citrus fruit, in particular, the orange. The Swedish botanist Linnaeus ( def ), alluding to the Hesperides, gave the taxonomic name Hesperideae to the botanical order that contains the genus Citrus; Hesperus ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of hesperidium¹

C19: New Latin; alluding to the fruit in the garden of the Hesperides

Example Sentences

Both pepo and hesperidium may be considered as modifications of the berry.

From Project Gutenberg