marmalade

Where does the word "marmalade" come from? It comes from Portuguese marmelo, passing through Portuguese and French before entering English (1500s).

Marmalade’s story begins in Portuguese: marmelo meant “quince.” The Portuguese word for quince. Within Portuguese, it grew into marmelada by medieval. A quince preserve. From there it passed into French as marmelade by 1500s. Adopted the preserve into French cuisine. It reached English by 1500s as marmalade. Later narrowed in English to mean citrus preserve. Today, marmalade means a fruit preserve made from citrus, especially orange.

1. Stage 1 · Portuguese · medieval marmelo "quince", the Portuguese word for quince.
2. Stage 2 · Portuguese · medieval marmelada "quince jam", a quince preserve.
3. Stage 3 · French · 1500s marmelade "fruit preserve", adopted the preserve into French cuisine.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1500s marmalade "a citrus fruit preserve", later narrowed in English to mean citrus preserve.