Jump to:

• clementine
  clementine

  noun

  a small, sweet variety of tangerine with orange-red skin.
• Clementine
  Clementine

  noun

  a female given name: derived from Clement.
• “Clementine”
  “Clementine”

  An American folksong (see folk music). Its refrain is:

  Oh my darling, oh my darling,

  Oh my darling Clementine!

  You are lost and gone forever,

  Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

  (See also forty-niners.)

clementine

¹ American  

[klem-uhn-tahyn, -teen] / ˈklɛm ənˌtaɪn, -ˌtin /

noun

1. a small, sweet variety of tangerine with orange-red skin.

---

Clementine ² American  

[klem-uhn-tahyn, -teen, kle-mahn-teen] / ˈklɛm ənˌtaɪn, -ˌtin, klɛ mɑ̃ˈtin /

Also Clementina

noun

1. a female given name: derived from Clement.

---

clementine British  

/ -ˌtaɪn, ˈklɛmənˌtiːn /

noun

1. a citrus fruit thought to be either a variety of tangerine or a hybrid between a tangerine and sweet orange

---

“Clementine” Cultural  

1. An American folksong (see folk music). Its refrain is:

   Oh my darling, oh my darling,

   Oh my darling Clementine!

   You are lost and gone forever,

   Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

   (See also forty-niners.)

---

Etymology

Origin of clementine

< French clémentine (1902), said to be named after a Father Clément, who developed the fruit near Oran; see -ine ¹

Explanation

A clementine is a small, orange, seedless citrus fruit. Clementines are usually easy to peel and section, and they taste very sweet. Clementines are a deep orange-colored hybrid fruit, a combination of the mandarin and the sweet orange, similar in size to a tangerine. The history of the clementine includes what was probably an accidental invention, and an introduction to California in 1914. The inadvertent inventor of the clementine was Father Clément Rodier, who ran an Algerian orphanage, and for whom the fruit was named.

Example Sentences

A 1940s folk painting by Clementine Hunter radiates relaxation, its central man unwinding with a drink, his feet kicked up on a stump.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

Beneath the magnificent frescoes of the Clementine Hall, Pope Leo spoke in Italian to praise the power of cinema to entertain and to educate – and for its "capacity to amaze".

From BBC • Nov. 15, 2025

"For the average consumer, it is impossible to understand that TotalEnergies is actually expanding fossil fuel production," Clementine Baldon, a lawyer for the NGOs, said at a hearing in June.

From Barron's • Oct. 21, 2025

She said her daughter Clementine, who was born in December last year, will soon be travelling with her when she comes back to Inverness.

From BBC • Aug. 22, 2025

Lulu and Courtney cry at once, but this inconceivability is eclipsed by Clementine, who says, “Can I try on your hat?”

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson