Grapefruit: Where Are the Grapes?

What Does Grapefruit Mean?

A grapefruit is a large, round citrus fruit with yellow skin. The inside is juicy and a little sour, and it can be pale yellow, pink or red.

She ate half a grapefruit for breakfast.
The grapefruit was so sour that Dad's face did a little dance.

🔊 Pronunciation

GRAYP-froot

The stress is on the first part: GRAYP, like the fruit grape. The second part is froot, like fruit, with the ui sounding like oo.

🗣️ Natural Examples

My brother squeezed a grapefruit into a glass of juice.
The grapefruit was as big as my head.
Mum cut the grapefruit into neat little pieces.
I like the sweet pink grapefruit better than the sour yellow one.
We found a grapefruit tree in the garden of the old house.

🛠️ How to Use It

• Grapefruit is a countable noun, so you can say a grapefruit or half a grapefruit.
• It is also used as the name of the fruit in general: I love grapefruit.
• You can use it before another noun: grapefruit juice, grapefruit slices.
• The word is written as one word.

🤝 Common Word Partners

• grapefruit juice
• half a grapefruit
• a slice of grapefruit
• a pink grapefruit
• a grapefruit tree
• a grapefruit spoon

👯 Similar and Related Words

• Orange: a sweeter citrus fruit, smaller than most grapefruits.
• Lemon and lime: smaller and much more sour.
• Pomelo: a very large citrus fruit, and one of the two parents of the grapefruit.
• Citrus: the word for this whole family of juicy fruits.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

A grapefruit is not a mix of grapes.
❌ A grapefruit is a cross between a grape and another fruit.
✅ A grapefruit is a citrus fruit. It is a natural cross of an orange and a pomelo.

Keep it as one word.
❌ grape fruit
✅ grapefruit

Say GRAYP, not GRAP.
❌ GRAP-froot
✅ GRAYP-froot

💬 In a Conversation

Sam: I'd like a grapefruit, please.
Mia: Here you go.
Sam: Where are the grapes?
Mia: They went on holiday.

🕵️ Where Does It Come From?

The fruit is a natural cross of an orange and a pomelo. It appeared on the island of Barbados in the middle of the 1700s.

The word grapefruit is first known in English in 1814, in a book by John Lunan about plants in Jamaica. So the name is not very old, as fruit names go.

Nobody can be certain why it is called that. The most likely reason is that grapefruits grow in bunches, on the same branch, a bit like grapes. The grapes are in the picture, not in the fruit.

💡 The OddLingo Trick

Picture a branch with a bunch of fruit hanging like grapes. That is the grape in grapefruit.

You will not find any grapes inside, but you will find a very sour face outside.