clementine
noun
a small, sweet variety of tangerine with orange-red skin.
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clementine
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Clementine
Clementinenouna female given name: derived from Clement.
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“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
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clementines
plural
Clementine
2
American
[klem-uhn-tahyn, -teen, kle-mahn -teen]
/ ˈklɛm ənˌtaɪn, -ˌtin, klɛ mɑ̃ˈtin /
Also
Clementina
noun
clementine
British
/ ˈklɛmənˌtiːn, -ˌtaɪn /
noun
“Clementine”
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing clementine
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He writes of how, “like hungry street cats,” they coax from their captors “a wedge of clementine, a single popcorn.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Fruit sandwiches are typically made of sweetened, soft, spongy white bread filled with whipped cream and fruit, typically strawberries or clementine, says Shuko Oda, chef at Koya restaurant in London.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
Darragh consoles her, hand on shoulder, face up close and whispering encouragement, then offering hugs and slices of clementine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2023
She collects the classic fresh linen and vanilla scents, along with the more exotic: names like pumpkin pecan waffles and clementine sherbet.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2022
Virgil shoved half a clementine in his mouth.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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
"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
And then there’s Clementine, who was “a little anxious” before the fire, and more so ever since.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2025
The UN's humanitarian co-ordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she was "appalled and gravely alarmed" by reports of what had happened.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2025
Clementine, still talking to her nails, says, “Should we call you The Ax? Or maybe just Ax? Ooooo.”
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
The Western folk ballad “Clementine” appeared in more than two dozen known 19th-century song collections, with an estimated cumulative circulation in the tens of thousands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
The title character of Sara Pennypacker’s “Clementine” is a mischievous third-grade girl who always seems to end up at the principal’s office.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 2, 2016
The books are a spinoff of Pennypacker’s seven “Clementine” books.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2016
When I finished the “Clementine” books, I was bereft.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2016
Luckily, the officials in the booth also had the rolls in Marathi, the local language, and there, her name was close enough to “Clementine” that they were willing to accept her photo ID.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2014
In South Korea, a country slightly larger than Indiana, rising temperatures are pushing the production of fruits such as apples and clementines northward as well as boosting the commercial cultivation of tropical fruits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2024
As expected, the presence of an image was more important in determining consumer choice than whether the handwash was scented with clementines or pears.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2024
In their yard, clementines and limes grow and plumerias rain from the trees.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
And in other parts of Italy, farmer associations have said that heat waves, floods and hailstones the size of clementines damaged local melon, watermelon, cherry and wine grape crops.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 31, 2023
Virgil laid the phone facedown on the table next to the clementines.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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