clementine

¹ American  

[klem-uhn-tahyn, -teen] / ˈklɛm ənˌtaɪn, -ˌtin /

noun

1. a small, sweet variety of tangerine with orange-red skin.

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Clementine ² American  

[klem-uhn-tahyn, -teen, kle-mahn-teen] / ˈklɛm ənˌtaɪn, -ˌtin, klɛ mɑ̃ˈtin /

Also Clementina

noun

1. a female given name: derived from Clement.

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clementine British  

/ -ˌtaɪn, ˈklɛmənˌtiːn /

noun

1. a citrus fruit thought to be either a variety of tangerine or a hybrid between a tangerine and sweet orange

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“Clementine” Cultural  

1. An American folksong (see folk music). Its refrain is:

   Oh my darling, oh my darling,

   Oh my darling Clementine!

   You are lost and gone forever,

   Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

   (See also forty-niners.)

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Etymology

Origin of clementine

< French clémentine (1902), said to be named after a Father Clément, who developed the fruit near Oran; see -ine ¹

Explanation

A clementine is a small, orange, seedless citrus fruit. Clementines are usually easy to peel and section, and they taste very sweet. Clementines are a deep orange-colored hybrid fruit, a combination of the mandarin and the sweet orange, similar in size to a tangerine. The history of the clementine includes what was probably an accidental invention, and an introduction to California in 1914. The inadvertent inventor of the clementine was Father Clément Rodier, who ran an Algerian orphanage, and for whom the fruit was named.

Example Sentences

He writes of how, “like hungry street cats,” they coax from their captors “a wedge of clementine, a single popcorn.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025

The traditional velvet cap features embroidered initials, button and tassel and a hand-embroidered clementine in honour of his wife Clementine.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2024

“Yeah, it’s not,” says Miranda, gazing up from the clementine she is peeling.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 20, 2023

She collects the classic fresh linen and vanilla scents, along with the more exotic: names like pumpkin pecan waffles and clementine sherbet.

From Salon • Nov. 22, 2022

He set the clementine peels aside and put his hands on the table to show her.

From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly