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pumpkin

noun
PUMP-kin/ˈpʌm(p).kɪn/

Pluralpumpkins

5 meanings of pumpkin

Practice

  1. 1
    fruitnouncountable or uncountable
    A large edible fruit of the squash family, typically round with a thick orange or yellow rind and many seeds inside; in Australian usage, any winter squash.

    She scooped out the seeds before roasting the pumpkin for soup.

    Farmers stacked the heavy pumpkins beside the roadside stand.

    UsageSay a pumpkin for the whole fruit but some pumpkin or roasted pumpkin for the food.

    Note

    L. Frank Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) shows the farm side, with pumpkins "lying golden red" among the cornstalks, grown to feed a cow through the winter.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • L. Frank Baum wrote The Marvelous Land of Oz. gutenberg.org
    • The book was first published in 1904. blogs.loc.gov
    • The narrator describes pumpkins as "lying golden red" among cornstalks, cultivated to feed a cow in winter. gutenberg.org
  2. 2
    the plantnouncountable or uncountable
    A cultivated vine, most often a variety of Cucurbita pepo, that resembles the squash or melon in its growth, leaves, flowers, and fruit.

    Every spring he plants a pumpkin in the corner of the vegetable patch.

    The pumpkin flowered early, and bees moved between its broad yellow blossoms.

    Note

    Behind the name lies ripeness. The line runs from Greek pépōn, a "large melon" whose name meant "ripe," through Latin pepō to Middle French pompon. English first said pompion or pumpion, then swapped the ending for the diminutive -kin, a form first recorded in 1647. The botanists kept the older word, so the species is Cucurbita pepo, and pepo survives on its own in English.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • The Greek ancestor pépōn meant "large melon" and developed from an adjective meaning "ripe". en.wiktionary.org
    • The word passed through Latin pepō and Middle French pompon. en.wiktionary.org
    • Pumpkin is an alteration of the earlier English forms pompion and pumpion using the diminutive suffix -kin. en.wiktionary.org
    • The form pumpkin is first attested in 1647. en.wiktionary.org
    • The botanical name Cucurbita pepo retains the Latin word pepo. climbers.lsa.umich.edu
    • Pepo also exists independently as an English word borrowed from Latin. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    orange colornoununcountable
    The orange color typical of the ripe fruit of the pumpkin plant.

    The designer chose a rich pumpkin for the living room walls.

    At sunset the whole sky glowed a soft pumpkin.

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    pet namenounUScountable or uncountable
    An affectionate name for someone small and cute, often a child or a loved one.

    Goodnight, my little pumpkin, I'll see you in the morning.

    Their grandmother always called the youngest boy pumpkin.

    UsageUsually said to the person, often little pumpkin or my pumpkin; too intimate for people you do not know well.

    Similarsweetheart, darling, honey, sweetie, dear

    Note

    It pairs readily with little and a possessive, as in John Prine and Pat McLaughlin's 1991 song "Daddy's Little Pumpkin."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  2. 5
    nouncolloquial
    The casing built into a vehicle's axle that holds the differential, or that casing together with the gears inside it.

Practice

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Origin

An alteration of "pompion" or "pumpion" with the diminutive ending "-kin," from Middle French "pompon," from Latin "pepo" (source of English "pepo"), from Ancient Greek "pepon" ("large melon"), from "pepon" ("ripe"), from "pepto" ("to ripen"). The first attestation dates from 1647.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 8 facts