citrus (English)

Where does "citrus" come from?

The word citrus journeys back to the Ancient Greek word kédros, which originally referred to a cedar or juniper tree. This term likely passed through Etruscan before becoming the Latin citrus, which shifted its meaning to describe the citron tree. Consequently, citrus is considered a linguistic doublet of the word cedar, sharing a common, albeit ancient, ancestral root.

Full etymology tree

• citrus (English), 'Any of several shrubs or trees of the genus Citrus in the family Rutaceae.'
  • inherited citrus (Latin), 'thuja'
    • borrowed κέδρος (kédros) (Ancient Greek), 'cedar (tree of genus Cedrus or Juniperus)'

Direct ancestors

• citrus (Latin)
• κέδρος (Ancient Greek)
• cedar (English)

Updated July 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris