pepo

See also: pepò and 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)

1. A fruit of plants of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, possessing a hard rind and producing many seeds in a single, central, pulpy chamber.
2. 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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpepo]
• Rhymes: -epo
• Hyphenation: pe‧po

Noun

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

1. a chirp, peep, twitter
2. (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

1. wing

Italian

Verb

pepo

1. first-person singular present indicative of pepare

Kaingang

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪˈpo/

Noun

pepo

1. 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

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

1. spirit, demon

Noun

pepo class X

1. plural of upepo