pepo

English

WOTD – 30 March 2010

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pepō, from Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn, “large melon”), from πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”), from πέπτω (péptō, “ripen”). Doublet of pumpion; compare pumpkin.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpiː.pəʊ/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.poʊ/
Hyphenation: pe‧po
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (UK): (file)

Noun

pepo (plural pepos)

A fruit of plants of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, possessing a hard rind and producing many seeds in a single, central, pulpy chamber.
A plant producing such a fruit.
- 1945, George Francis Carter, Plant Geography and Culture History in the American Southwest, Issue 5 edition, page 25:
  The Papago claim that their ancient pepo would produce a mature, sweet melon if the ground were wet only once, while the "new" melons would not.

Synonyms

(fruit): gourd, melon, pumpkin, squash, cucumber
(plant): cucurbit

Translations

kind of fruit

Esperanto: peponedo
Finnish: kurkku (fi), meloni (fi), kurpitsa (fi) (no single word covering all)
French: pépon (fr) m, péponide (fr) f
Italian: peponide (it) m
Portuguese: pepónio (pt) m
Russian: ты́ква (ru) f (týkva)
Spanish: pepónide (es) m
Tagalog: daykutbunga
Welsh: pepo m

plant producing such a fruit

Finnish: kurkkukasvi (fi)
Russian: ты́ква (ru) f (týkva)

Anagrams

EPPO, Pope, peop., pope

Esperanto

Noun

pepo (accusative singular pepon, plural pepoj, accusative plural pepojn)

a chirp, peep, twitter
(Internet) a tweet

Related terms

pepi (“to chirp”)

Guaraní

Etymology

Cognate with Old Tupi pepó.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [peˈpo]
Rhymes: -o
Hyphenation: pe‧po

Noun

pepo

wing

Italian

Verb

pepo

first-person singular present indicative of pepare

Kaingang

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pɪˈpo/

Noun

pepo

toad

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”), from πέσσω (péssō, “ripen”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.poː/, [ˈpɛpoː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.po/, [ˈpɛːpo]

Noun

pepō m (genitive peponis); third declension

melon (picked ripe)
1. Cucumis melo: true melons
2. Citrullus lanatus: watermelon

Usage notes

See also cucumis.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	pepō	peponēs
genitive	peponis	peponum
dative	peponī	peponibus
accusative	peponem	peponēs
ablative	pepone	peponibus
vocative	pepō	peponēs

Related terms

mēlopepō

Descendants

→ Albanian: pjepër, pjep
Aromanian: peapini, peapine, piponj
→ English: pepo
→ French: péponide
Middle French: pompon
- → Dutch: pompoen, pampoen (obsolete, rare)
  - Afrikaans: pampoen
  - Berbice Creole Dutch: pampuna
  - Negerhollands: pampuen, pampon
    - → Virgin Islands Creole: pum pum (dated)
  - Skepi Creole Dutch: pampun
  - → Papiamentu: pampuna, pampoena
  - → Sranan Tongo: pampun
    - → Saramaccan: pampú
  - → West Frisian: pompoen
- → English: pumpion, pompion
  - → Welsh: pwmpen
  - ⇒ pumpkin (see there for further descendants)
Italian: popone
Portuguese: pepino
Romanian: pepene
Spanish: pepino, pepón
→ Translingual: Pepo
→⇒ Scottish Gaelic: peapag

References

“pepo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
pepo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Swahili

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Related to upepo (wind), see https://x.com/BantuLanguages/status/1871462313661796788”)

Pronunciation

Audio (Kenya): (file)

Noun

pepo class IX (plural pepo class X) or pepo class V (plural mapepo class VI)

spirit, demon

Noun

pepo

plural of upepo