pumpkin

[ puhmp-kin, puhng-kin ]

noun

1. a large, edible, orange-yellow fruit borne by a coarse, decumbent vine, Cucurbita pepo, of the gourd family.
2. the similar fruit of any of several related species, as C. maxima or C. moschata.
3. a plant bearing such fruit.

pumpkin

/ ˈpʌmpkɪn /

noun

1. any of several creeping cucurbitaceous plants of the genus Cucurbita, esp C. pepo of North America and C. maxima of Europe
2. 1. the large round fruit of any of these plants, which has a thick orange rind, pulpy flesh, and numerous seeds
   2. ( as modifier )

      pumpkin pie

3. often capital a term of endearment

Word History and Origins

Origin of pumpkin¹

1640–50; alteration of pumpion ( -kin ), variant of pompon < Middle French, nasalized variant of popon melon, earlier pepon < Latin pepōn- (stem of pepō ) < Greek pépōn kind of melon

Word History and Origins

Origin of pumpkin¹

C17: from earlier pumpion, from Old French pompon, from Latin pepo, from Greek pepōn, from pepōn ripe, from peptein to ripen

Example Sentences

In the autumn, we might substitute in zucca, or sweet pumpkin.

From Fortune

Last week, you and 60 of your closest friends decided to play a socially distanced game of hot pumpkin.

From FiveThirtyEight

The special is bookended by two sequences involving Linus and Lucy going to the pumpkin patch.

From Vox

She then declares “2” and passes the pumpkin one space to her left.

From FiveThirtyEight

Instead, they’re planning to stay in and whip up homemade pumpkin ravioli.

From Washington Post

Finally, Deborah Racicot of Narcissa prepares mouth-watering (and non-basic) pumpkin crepes with warm sage cinnamon en glaze.

From The Daily Beast

On Pumpkin Fest weekend, they did things a little differently.

From The Daily Beast

Riots broke out both after last year's pumpkin festival and after the Red Sox World Series win last year.

From The Daily Beast

He joked, as he split open pumpkin seeds with his teeth between puffs on a smoke.

From The Daily Beast

The pumpkin, when he produced it, was the size of an orange—but still a pumpkin.

From The Daily Beast

It wasn't long before she surprised the object of her search in the act of eating a fat grub beside a pumpkin.

From Project Gutenberg

And he decided, after thinking deeply for some time, that there could not possibly be a bee inside the pumpkin.

From Project Gutenberg

That there fellow was the sweetest cuttin' man I ever did cut in all my life—he was jest like a ripe pumpkin.'

From Project Gutenberg

“Why, but the good little pumpkin was eaten up, too,” said the boy.

From Project Gutenberg

The question was, How can a pumpkin vine climb a fence, anyway?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fruit
• squash