# lemon

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈlɛmən/ · frequency rank #6,066

## Definitions
1. A yellowish citrus fruit.
2. A semitropical evergreen tree, Citrus limon, that bears such fruits.
3. A more or less bright shade of yellow associated with lemon fruits.
4. Lemon juice.
5. A lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris).
6. A defective or inadequate item or individual.
7. Favor.
8. A piece of fanfiction involving explicit sex.
9. The surface of revolution of a circular arc of angle less than 180° rotated about the straight line passing through the arc’s two endpoints.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Arabic ليمونbor.
Old French lymonbor.
Middle English lymon
English lemon
Inherited from Middle English lymon, from Old French lymon (“citrus”), from Arabic لَيْمُون (laymūn) or Persian لیمون (limon), from Persian لیمو (limu), from Sanskrit निम्बू (nimbū, “lime”), ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *limaw or Munda. Likely a doublet of lime.
The fandom sense is named after the erotic anime series Cream Lemon.

## Easily confused with
- **leo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-leo)
- **Len** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-len)
- **Lon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lon)
- **lion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lion)
- **Leon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-leon)
- **Lyon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lyon)
- **limo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-limo)
- **Leto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-leto)
- **loon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-loon)
- **leno** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-leno)
- **Lenin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lenin)
- **levin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-levin)
- **Leroy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-leroy)
- **Luton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-luton)
- **lumen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lumen)
- **Lyman** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lyman)
- **Leona** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-leona)
- **Lenox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lenox)
- **Lewin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-lewin)
- **Luzon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lemon-vs-luzon)

## Common misspellings (7)
`elmon`, `lemmon`, `lemno`, `lemonn`, `leomn`, `llemon`, `lmeon`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lemon