overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

marmalade.

A kind of jam made with citrus fruit, distinguished by being made slightly bitter by the addition of the peel and by partial caramelisation during manufacture. Most commonly made with Seville oranges, and usually qualified by the name of the fruit when made with other types of fruit.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈmɑː.mə.leɪd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmɑɹ.mə.leɪd/General-American
  1. A kind of jam made with citrus fruit, distinguished by being made slightly bitter by the addition of the peel and by partial caramelisation during manufacture. Most commonly made with Seville oranges, and usually qualified by the name of the fruit when made with other types of fruit.

    countable · uncountable
    lime marmalade
    thick cut marmalade
  2. Quince jam.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  3. A cat having orange- or ginger-colored fur.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Middle French marmelade, from Portuguese marmelada (“quince jam”), from marmelo (“quince”), from Latin melimēlum (“sweet apple”), from Ancient Greek μελίμηλον (melímēlon), from μέλι (méli, “honey”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”). A false folk etymology claims that this comes from the French phrase “Marie est malade” (“Mary is ill”), referring to Mary, Queen of Scots, falling ill and being given marmalade to feel better.

verb/ˈmɑː.mə.leɪd/Received-Pronunciation/ˈmɑɹ.mə.leɪd/General-American
  1. To spread marmalade on.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Middle French marmelade, from Portuguese marmelada (“quince jam”), from marmelo (“quince”), from Latin melimēlum (“sweet apple”), from Ancient Greek μελίμηλον (melímēlon), from μέλι (méli, “honey”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”). A false folk etymology claims that this comes from the French phrase “Marie est malade” (“Mary is ill”), referring to Mary, Queen of Scots, falling ill and being given marmalade to feel better.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

marmalade has 9 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

marmalade studiomarmalade workshello, marmalade

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.