satsuma

Where does the word "satsuma" come from? It comes from Japanese Satsuma, and was adopted directly into English (1870s).

Satsuma’s story begins in Japanese: Satsuma meant “a historical region of southern Japan.” The name of a feudal domain in southern Kyushu that exported citrus and pottery. It reached English by 1870s as satsuma. Applied to the seedless mandarin orange first imported to the West from the region. Today, satsuma means a small, sweet, easy-to-peel variety of mandarin orange.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · medieval Satsuma "a historical region of southern Japan", the name of a feudal domain in southern Kyushu that exported citrus and pottery.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1870s satsuma "a sweet, easy-to-peel mandarin orange", applied to the seedless mandarin orange first imported to the West from the region.